Official: Watchdog gets no recultivation plan from Norilsk Nickel

KOLOMNA, Moscow Region, Sep 4 (PRIME) -- The Federal Service for Natural Resources Oversight has not received a land recultivation plan after a fuel spill in Norilsk, head of the service Svetlana Radionova said on Friday.

"We have presented a damage assessment and are waiting for a reaction from the company that said that it had reserved the money,” Radionova said.

“We hope very much for its responsible behavior to make the payments. The measures are about to finish, the company said it will pump away the collected oil products, and will separate them further. We hope that they will turn to us for a recultivation project of. We have not seen such documents."

Radionova separately said that some companies affiliated with Norilsk Nickel have their purification systems in an abhorrent condition, as it turned out after an investigation ordered by the authorities.

A fuel tank at Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company, part of Norilsk Nickel group, lost pressure on May 29 and leaked out 21,000 tonnes of fuel and lubricants into the river Ambarnaya, causing a fire. The Federal Service for Natural Resources Oversight assessed the damage inflicted on the environment by the spill at 147.7 billion rubles in July, but Norilsk Nickel disputed the amount of damage.

(75.4680 – U.S. $1)

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