Messages in the messenger of the former head of Norilsk, Rinat Akhmetchin, helped to reveal negligence in an emergency related to a fuel spill. This was announced on Sunday, October 18, by the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
“When investigating the circumstances of the oil spill, we analyzed the contents of one of the messengers used by the then head of Norilsk, RV Akhmetchin,” he said.
Bastrykin also added that the information received made it possible to identify signs of negligence, which manifested itself in the untimely introduction of the emergency regime and entailed a significant increase in the amount of damage caused.
The accident at TPP-3 in Norilsk took place on May 29. About 20 thousand tons of fuel spilled due to the depressurization of the diesel fuel storage tank, which occurred against the background of a sudden subsidence of the supports. Oil products got into two rivers – Ambarnaya and Daldykan.
On the fact of the incident, several criminal cases were initiated at once, which were combined into one proceeding. In particular, we are talking about cases of violation of environmental protection rules during the performance of work (Art. 246 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), damage to land (part 1 of Art. 254 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and water pollution (Art. 250 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
The head and beneficiary of the mining and metallurgical company Norilsk Nickel, Vladimir Potanin, said that a “combination of factors” could have led to the accident: the melting of permafrost and a project that did not meet modern requirements.
Director of the Polar Division of Norilsk Nickel Nikolai Utkin said that Norilsk Nickel spent 3 billion rubles to eliminate the accident at CHPP-3 and in the area of the fuel spill.