Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that he would have to ask law enforcement agencies to deal with information about the timeliness of reporting information about a fuel spill at a thermal power plant in Norilsk to the Emergencies Ministry
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd June, 2020) Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that he would have to ask law enforcement agencies to deal with information about the timeliness of reporting information about a fuel spill at a thermal power plant in Norilsk to the Emergencies Ministry.
The incident occurred at TPP No.3 in Norilsk on Friday. A rupture of diesel fuel tank resulted in spill of 21,000 cubic meters of fuel. According to Norilsk Nickel, the main cause of the accident was warming in the permafrost conditions, which set the supports of the fuel tank in motion. A criminal case has been launched, the regional authorities have introduced an emergency regime at the inter-municipal level.
"I will have to ask the relevant regulatory authorities to figure out who transmitted [information about the state of emergency], to whom, where it was transferred, what was the reaction of everyone who should act in accordance with the relevant instructions," Putin said at a meeting on dealing with the diesel fuel spill.
According to the company's representatives, the Emergencies Ministry was informed promptly about the incident, while according to the information received by the president from Emergencies Minister Evgeny Zinichev and Krasnoyarsk Territory Governor Alexander Uss, they did not immediately learn about the emergency.
Putin called for holding the company responsible for the incident.
"According to your assessment, what happened and why did the authorities learn about it only two days later? Are we going to learn about emergencies from social networks? Are you feeling well?" Putin said, addressing the head of the company.
Putin was surprised at the governor's report on a state of emergency in Norilsk, as it lacked any information on measures to be done in this situation.
"What is the report? So it's finished. And what to do? You are the governor," the president said.
Putin instructed Energy Minister Alexander Novak to quickly sort out the situation.
"Of course, when fuel spills into waters of various rivers, water reservoirs, generally into seas, the appropriate chemical agents are used and so on. We must do this promptly, as soon as possible. Right now," Putin told Novak.
The Energy Ministry will begin negotiations with oil companies on Wednesday to deal with the incident, Novak told Putin.
"With regard to the liquidation of the accident, I am ready to negotiate with our oil companies, which may have previously encountered such a situation, and perhaps they have experience in assisting and supporting measures related to dealing with consequences. I'll talk as soon as today," Novak said.
The situation in Norilsk with the spill of oil products must be recognized as a federal-level emergency, Zinichev said. According to the emergencies minister, this will allow attracting necessary workforce and funds. Putin agreed with Zinichev's proposal.
Governor Uss said that the region might be unable to deal with the consequences of the fuel spill within the planned two-week period.
Natural Resources Minister Dmitry Kobylkin proposed to involve the military in dealing with the consequences of the fuel spill.
