Russian Prosecutors Probing Oil Spill From Decommissioned Pipeline In Far East

KHABAROVSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th November, 2020) Russian prosecutors have launched a probe into a fresh oil leak in an out-of-service long-distance pipeline in the Khabarovsk Territory of the country's Far East, the Amur Basin Environmental Prosecutor's Office told Sputnik on Friday.

The Russian Energy Ministry's situation analysis center on Thursday reported an oil spill that occurred Wednesday at the Okha - Komsomolsk-on-Amur pipeline near the Verkhnetambovskoye settlement. According to the center, the leak was caused by a burst pipeline owned by RN-Sakhalinmorneftegaz, a Rosneft subsidiary.

The company's spokesperson told Sputnik that a leak had been discovered during a scheduled check of the unused pipeline and that the company had contained the surrounding area and prevented oil from contaminating the Amur River and Goloye lake. Nevertheless, a small amount of oil leaked into the Bezymyannyy stream.

"The prosecutor's office has launched a probe into an oil spill near the Verkhnetambovskoye village of the Komsomolsk municipal district," the prosecutor office's spokesperson said, adding that Federal agencies for natural resources, fisheries and environment management have joined an investigation into the incident.

The Okha - Komsomolsk-on-Amur pipeline was laid in the Khabarovsk Territory in 1974 and was put out of commission in 2020.