Russia: Planned oil terminal on Taimy threatens pollution of Yenisey river

Written on 09 August 2015. Posted in Russia

The oil company "Taimyrneftegazdobycha" is planning to build an oil terminal on the Yenisei with a throughput capacity of five million tons per year. Environmentalists and indigenous peoples say that the company is not prepared for working in Arctic conditions and the elimination of possible oil spills. To increase

Greenpeace reports that it has studied the materials for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the terminal "Tanalau" on the Taimyr Peninsula and on July 15 submitted comments at the public hearing on this project in Dudinka, (Krasnoyarsk territory).

"The company claims that the construction will not significantly affect either the water quality or the state of nature. But such a conclusion is impossible based on the provided EIA materials. The company has squeeze all measures for oil spill response into five pages of unintelligible text: There is no explanation how it will act in the event of a major accident, whether there are enough resources, and, most importantly, how it intends to deal with accidents in extremely difficult ice conditions", — said Vladimir Chuprov of Greenpeace Russia

Indigenous peoples say that what it happening in the Taimyr tundra right now amply demonstrates that the company is not ready for the project. Already during the preparatory stages, the oil companies demonstrate an irresponsible attitude towards the indigenous people and towards nature: "Heavy equipment has destroyed all the tundra around the village Karaul, bags of chemical agents were dumped on the banks of the Yenisei river which of course came under water during the flood. On the river banks, explosions are carried out, whose noise can be heard in the village," says Sidor Chuprin, the head of the Association of indigenous peoples of Taimyr. The association representing the interests of local residents, refused to sign the Protocol of the hearings.

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