" It's not going well in your head ? "In front of his giant screen, Vladimir Putin rants and raves. He rolls his shoulders, tightens the jaws, rummages in his notes. It has in front of him, visible on one of the windows of his video conference, the head of the company complained of. "So, Sergei Valerievitch Lipine, how is it that we learn such a new two days later ? Let us now explore the situations of emergency through social networks ? ""We sent the notification on time," the other replies. "Can you hear me, Lipine, I'm going to order an investigation to find out who sent what and how we responded," says Putin.
on This day, Putin decided to leave the cameras to the Kremlin to shoot his anger. In question ? The fuel spill in a river in the Arctic. An ecological disaster caused by the collapse in the diesel tank of a thermal power plant. 20 000 tonnes of hydrocarbons released in the middle of nature, near Norilsk. A curse for this town is considered as the most polluted in the country due to the presence of the company's metallurgical Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest producer of nickel. However, it is one of its subsidiaries NTEK is today indictment.
An event similar to that of the Exxon Valdez spill in terms of impact on the environment.
"This is the first time that such a disaster took place in Russia, beyond the polar circle," says Vasily Iablokov, of Greenpeace in Moscow. This season, in a period of rising waters, the pollution will extend over several thousand kilometers. "The representative of the NGO, goes even further. "It is an event comparable to that of the Exxon Valdez spill in terms of impact on the environment," he said in reference to the oil spill triggered in 1989 by the grounding of an oil tanker in the u.s. on the coast of Alaska. A consequence related to the nature of the product. "The diesel is more toxic to wildlife and spreads more easily. "
yet It is you governor !
on The day of the video conference with vladimir Putin, the governor of the region, Alexander Ouss, even confesses his own impotence. "I don't know how much time it may take the clean-up operation ", a loose-t-it. "Yet it is you governor !" he retorted Putin.
the minister of The Environment, Dmitri Kobilkine, just, also, to find a solution. Well, he had suggested burning the fuel escaped, before changing your mind. "I can't imagine a huge fire over such a region," he said. Only one certainty : if the authorities start to seriously clean the area, the cost promised to be high. Up to 1 billion euros, writes Greenpeace.
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For the time being, the origins of the leaks remain unknown. We tip climate change. Under the effect of the melting of the permafrost, the pillars of the tank would have collapsed. It also evokes the collision of a car which would have resulted in a fire. Finally, the outdated infrastructure dating back to thirty years have played a role. In 2016, Norilsk Nickel had already sinned by negligence in rejecting its chemicals in a river in the far North, became suddenly red.
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This time, however, the matter is more serious. Putin has declared a state of national emergency and three criminal investigations are open.
