US Extends Its Hand to Help Russia In Cleaning the Worst Arctic Circle Oil Spill

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has declared a state of emergency after more than 20,000 tons of diesel leaked into the Ambarnaya River near the city of Norilsk last Friday, after a fuel tank collapsed at a power plant.

On Saturday, The United States (U.S) offered to help Russia in cleaning up the huge Arctic Circle spill that has fouled an Arctic river in Northern Siberia.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has declared a state of emergency and said he expects the company to pay for the clean-up over pollution in Arctic Circle. Streams turned Blood red after 20,000 tonnes of diesel oil leaked into a river within the Arctic Circle. The spill happened when a fuel tank at a power plant near Siberian industrial city Norilsk collapsed, last Friday. The extent of the oil spill can be gauged from the fact that the spill is visible even from space, making the Ambarnaya River turn bright red because of the diesel. An organization called Greenpeace is even stating that this is the worst ever environmental disaster that has happened in the region, putting the damage to the water bodies at $85 million.

The company responsible for the incident, Norilsk Nickel, is the world’s leading Nickel and Palladium producer. The incident has led the key co-owner of the company, Vladimir Potanin, to lose $1.5 Billion. A criminal case has already been registered against the company and one of the heads of the thermal plant has been arrested. The reason for the failure of the storage tank was melting of the Permafrost on which the base of the plant was laid. The rising global temperature has been a major reason for the melting of permafrost in the region. Permafrost is usually as hard as concrete.

The spilled fuel needs to be collected quickly and efficiently as there is a threat that the fuel may start to dissolve in the water. As a result of this incident, Russian officials have ordered a review of infrastructure in such vulnerable zones. Also, the Russian President has ordered changing the related laws so that such incidents do not happen in the future.