The experts of Norilsk Nickel and the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) have not recorded any negative impact of the fuel spill on the ecosystem of Lake Pyasino.
"The data obtained in 2023 clearly indicates that there is no negative impact of the emergency spill of petroleum products in 2020 on the ecosystem of Lake Pyasino. The results of the expedition indicate a general improvement in the ecological situation in the basin," the RAS said in a statement.
According to scientists, the oil pollution did not have a detrimental effect on living organisms (biota) in Lake Pyasino and the source of the Pyasina River on Taimyr in the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
A comparison of the ecosystems of the Pyasino, Melkoe and Lama lakes showed no differences in the structure of plankton and zoobenthos. Researchers note that Lake Pyasino lost its fishing significance in the middle of the last century.
Since 2020, Norilsk Nickel and the Russian Academy of Sciences have conducted several scientific expeditions in the regions of the company's presence, including Taimyr.
In July 2022, the Arbitration Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory approved a settlement agreement between the Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company (NTEK, a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel), the Yenisei Territorial Administration of Rosrybolovstvo and the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography for compensation of damage caused to aquatic biological resources due to the spill of petroleum products in May 2020 from one of the fuel tanks at the Norilsk TTP-3.
Under this agreement, NTEK paid for the damage caused to bioresources. It will work on replenishing the reservoirs of the Noril-Pyasinsk lake-river system affected by the accident with the young of various fish species from 2033 to 2050.
Starting this year and until 2033, the company plans to annually release Siberian sturgeon young into the Yenisei River. NTEK will also finance scientific research to assess the state of aquatic biological resources and their habitat from 2023 to 2051, goarctic.ru reports.
Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished
