Norilsk oil spill
| Norilsk diesel oil spill | |
|---|---|
Extent of the spill as seen by Sentinel-2 satellite | |
| Location | Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia |
| Coordinates | 69°22′46″N 87°44′40″E / 69.37944°N 87.74444°E |
| Date | 29 May 2020 - June 2020 |
| Cause | |
| Cause |
|
| Operator | NTEK (Nornickel subsidiary) |
| Spill characteristics | |
| Volume | 21,000 m3 (17,500 tonnes) |
| Area | 350 km2 (140 sq mi) |
The Norilsk diesel oil spill was an industrial disaster near Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It began on 29 May 2020 when a fuel storage tank at Norilsk-Taimyr Energy's Thermal Power Plant No. 3 (owned by Nornickel) failed, flooding local rivers with up to 17,500 tonnes of diesel oil. President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency in early June. The incident has been described as the second-largest oil spill in modern Russian history, after the 1994 Komi pipeline spill, where 400,000 tonnes of crude oil were released to the environment between August 1994 and January 1995.