How saving oligarchs led to the worst environmental disaster in the Russian North

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2020 was only half past, but it was already full of extreme events, in the most unsightly light exposing the domestic management system. This is the “oil war”, which lasted six weeks instead of six years, and the coronavirus pandemic, in the framework of the fight against which a kind of “self-isolation” was introduced instead of the emergency mode. The accident at the Norilsk TPP-3 is essentially a link in the same chain.

Recall, on May 29, at the CHPP-3 tank, literally “the bottom was torn off”, and 21 thousand tons of diesel fuel leaked, polluting the soil and water of the Ambarnaya and Daldykan rivers. At the moment, this is probably the largest environmental disaster in the Far North. A “guilty party” has already been found - a certain Vyacheslav Starostin, the head of the CHPP-3 workshop, who will ultimately answer in all severity. He is charged with negligence due to the fact that the authorities were not promptly notified of the incident.



Well, the responsibility of an official cannot be denied, but is it one thing? Let's try to trace the entire logical chain from beginning to end.

In the days of the USSR, the Far North was the place where many sought to get and work, despite the harsh climate. The Norilsk industrial region gave the country nickel, copper, cobalt, platinoids. Workers received high salaries and were provided with quite comfortable living conditions for the region. The "atomic bomb" was planted in 1993, when President Yeltsin signed a decree on the transformation of the Norilsk Nickel State Concern into a Russian joint-stock company. Further, through a mortgage auction, a unique enterprise instead of its labor collective fell into the hands of ONEXIM Bank for $ 170 million.

So there were two prominent Russian oligarchs - gentlemen Vladimir Potanin and Mikhail Prokhorov. Later Prokhorov was replaced by the oligarch Deripaska, known for his proximity to the Kremlin, and Roman Abramovich also took part in the fate of the enterprise. Today, the key figure at Norilsk Nickel is billionaire Vladimir Potanin, the richest man in Russia as of 2020 according to Forbes, who had to answer President Putin for the environmental disaster.

If we return to the emergency situation, the following happened: the storage for the CHPP-3 was depressurized (the wording “the bottom has come off” appears), tens of tons of fuel poured into the soil and into adjacent rivers. The head of the shop, Starostin, is accused of not having notified the special services of the spill on time, showing negligence. The cause of the tragedy is called "climate change", which led to the thawing of permafrost and the violation of structural strength. It is curious that initially even the version about a certain car that allegedly crashed into a tank appeared, causing a disaster. After she was refuted.

Yes, untimely notification of the Ministry of Emergencies and the authorities about the emergency is a real “cant” of the shop manager, but there are two counter questions.

Firstly, in what condition was this tank in general, what was the degree of its deterioration, where did the “effective private owner” and its “effective managers” look?

Secondly, where did the numerous inspection authorities look? In order not to notice the deterioration of the structure, which is a source of increased danger, and the melting of permafrost, you need to look somewhere to the side. The fact that the head of state learned about the incident from social networks can indicate either the inconsistency of the officials of the position or an attempt to hide the incident.

It turns out an unsightly logical chain: “effective private owner” + “effective managers” + ineffective officials = a certain average formula for disaster. It is noteworthy that the state now bears the main burden of raking up the consequences of the accident, despite the assurances of the oligarch Potanin.

Unfortunately, this emergency is not something unique. I would like to recall the accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric station in 2009, which led to the death of 75 people. It will be useful to recall the conclusions of the Parliamentary Commission about its reasons:

The accident at the SShHPP with numerous casualties was the result of a number of reasons of a technical, organizational and regulatory nature. Most of these reasons are systemic multifactorial in nature, including unacceptably low responsibility of operating personnel, unacceptably low responsibility and professionalism of the plant management, as well as abuse of official position by the plant management. Permanent monitoring of the technical condition of the equipment by operational and repair personnel was not properly organized.


11 years have passed since then, but, apparently, absolutely no conclusions have been made. One can only guess where the "bottom will come off" next time.
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18 comments
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  1. +1
    8 June 2020 14: 13
    I do not dispute the statements in the article about "irresponsibility", etc. But, there is reason to believe that the problem is much more serious. The problem with permafrost. And our infrastructure on it. Here any supervisory authorities and even the form of ownership will be powerless.
  2. 0
    8 June 2020 16: 38
    And after how many days the most effective system (socialist-communist) notified the citizens of their country and the world about the Chernobyl disaster? Did you try to hide? Who was there to blame? Sloppiness of power, nepotism, inefficiency of the management system? Low responsibility and professionalism of the station management? The same thing happened in a huge number of other emergency situations, accidents and disasters. That is, nothing, in fact, has changed on the territory of 1/6 of the land. Yes, and all over the world too.
    1. +2
      9 June 2020 09: 24
      Chernobyl happened thanks to Gorbachev, Andropov and other lackeys of the United States and it is possible that they made it on purpose ...
      1. -1
        9 June 2020 11: 49
        And the Kyshtym accident on the Mayak in 1957 is also Gorbachev? Many more examples can be cited, from the destruction by the Soviet Army of passenger aircraft with Soviet citizens during training air defense firing, to accidents in nuclear submarines, a gas pipeline, and ships. But apparently, the communist accidents, in your opinion, are harmless, safe and useful to people and nature.
        1. +3
          9 June 2020 14: 10
          In 1957, atomic technologies were only mastered, while they were engaged in more than dubious experiments at the HOUR, with a partial malfunction of the nuclear power plant itself, these are two different things ... Yes, and in 1957, the USSR was driven by Khrushchev, an enemy of the people and Russia, which there is a lot to do and need was to be hanged, not sent to retirement ... As for the destruction of the USSR air defense of civilian planes - do not tell ... Boeing 707, which was landed in Karelia, was piloted by a military crew and deliberately ignoring the orders of Soviet air defense ... That the United States likes to cover up civilian mission of intelligence, these are not problems of the USSR, it only speaks of the rot that always sat in Washington ... The Boeing 747, shot down in the Sakhalin region, also had a military crew and deliberately deviated from its route by more than 1000 km ... By the way, with the latter, the story is muddy and in many ways still classified ... There is information that on that day the Yankees lost 3 to 4 of their reconnaissance aircraft, and the Boeing 747 was shot down by the US Navy, whether consciously About to blame the USSR for its reconnaissance planes lost that day, or the missile launched into the Soviet interceptor, erroneously went to the Boeing 747 ... The fact is that even in the West there are records confirming that the Boeing 747, with passengers on board, got in touch with ground controllers at least twice after the time of their official destruction of the USSR air defense ... and did not report problems on board.
          1. -2
            9 June 2020 15: 37
            In general, I meant other incidents with airplanes, for example -

            On December 17, 1961, during a flight en route over the Rostov Region, the Il-18 B plane suddenly lost control and collapsed in the air. The reason is not officially named, an unofficial version - the plane was shot down by a rocket fired at the Kapustin Yar training ground. Killed 51 people.

            и

            On June 30, 1962, near the city of Krasnoyarsk, an anti-aircraft missile accidentally shot down a Tu-104 passenger plane, en route Khabarovsk-Moscow. 84 people were killed.

            - but on the whole it’s clear, Khrushchev is the enemy of the people, Gorbachev and Andropov are the enemies of the people, Stalin is also the enemy of the people, with him, at least, famine happened in the 30s. Brezhnev, too, was an enemy of the people, it was with him on December 30, 1967, at the Lenin atomic icebreaker, which stood on the quay in the city of Murmansk, that a major accident occurred: the reactor was melted, and radioactive products were released due to a leak in the 3rd circuit. It is believed that about 30 sailors died. The emergency reactor was subsequently flooded in the Kara Sea. But it is precisely the modern government that has all the catastrophes and tragedies from the oligarchic structure, sloppiness, incompetence and other delights. But for others, all disasters are for the sake of improving the lives of ordinary people or from insufficient technology. And in 1969, on August 26, when landing at Vnukovo Airport (Moscow), the Il-18 B plane crashed (the crew forgot to release the landing gear). Killed 16 of the 102 people on board. This is from what? Sloppiness of power and incompetence? So, when was there a competent, not slovenly authority in our country?
            1. +2
              9 June 2020 15: 40
              But the modern government will go a long way, but as for the matter, it’s far from Brezhnev ...
  3. +6
    8 June 2020 17: 36
    During my almost thirty years of work at the NMMC, I installed more than one such piece, but only no more than 5 thousand cubic meters, because local conditions did not allow for more, and I am not talking about 20 thousand. Particular attention was paid to the cushion under the tank itself - in winter, a place was cleared in the studied soil, then a sandwich was made from crushed stone, sand, crushed stone, sand, reinforcement, concrete and bitumen, and all this was done at -25-35 degrees of frost, then the bottom itself lay, and a roll of a tank with a mast was already placed on it, with its gradual deployment by bulldozers and tacks to the bottom. Only certified welders with their own marks were allowed to weld. After unrolling the entire roll with capital tacks, they put the vault of the tank, the roof of many segments, and only after that a whole team of welders welded the entire tank, which took at least 10 days, after which every single seam was exposed to transillumination and vacuum, defoaming and irrigation pipes, and after all these procedures, an act of acceptance was already signed ... The video taken by eyewitnesses clearly showed how the flow of fuel washed away the very weak and low embankment of the tank, which, according to SNiPU, was supposed to keep the entire tank ditch filling one and a half times more than the capacity of the tank itself, but the embankment made at random was instantly washed out, and now we have what we have ..... Yes, before the all-Union deriban, even before the Gorbachev-Yeltsin times, Norilsk was a state within a state, and everything there went on socialist rails - an abundance of food, all consumer goods, free apartments, medicine, education, spa treatment, worthy of wages and pensions, the program of resettlement of northerners to the "mainland", and the environment was better, and now ... they are squeezing the last juice and strength from the bowels and from the people, and all the authorities don't care about it - Norilsk has gradually turned into a ghost town.
  4. +1
    8 June 2020 19: 20
    Such facilities should be owned and operated by the state, not by oligarchs.
  5. +1
    8 June 2020 20: 30
    So now everywhere in private enterprises. And do not be surprised at this. Until it breaks, no one will stop production. And they repair at the expense of people. Just pay less. Norms and GOSTs everything, the government has long since canceled. Putin himself gives the command so that business is not tormented by inspections (remember the winter cherry). Another thing is surprising. As with such equipment operation, we have so few disasters and technological accidents. And then Putin will also reward Potanin for eliminating the accident. You will see!
  6. +3
    8 June 2020 22: 09
    The Industrial Safety Rules, SNiPs, ЕТР, ЕНиРы, GOSTs have been canceled, new levels of supervision and control over dangerous objects have not been entered, so it turns out ...
    As the "Master-Oligarch" says, so the production works with violations. This is not the first time, this is a system already built under Putin, 20 years of manual control, it will definitely be repeated many times ...
    Prom Safety in hazardous production at the discretion of conscience
    owner - the owner can not give.
    Conscience in the Brains of the owner is replaced by a thirst for profit ....
    1. -1
      9 June 2020 01: 44
      This is the very one - Putin's breakthrough.
  7. +2
    9 June 2020 09: 16
    They will plant the next switchman ... Yes, in the same Voronezh, most of the boiler houses are in very poor condition, the automation on most of them has not been working for a long time, or it works partially, and everyone doesn’t give a damn about it until somewhere else ... And how it smells , again clever on TV will start and look for the extreme ...
  8. +1
    9 June 2020 15: 44
    Quote: Valentine
    Norilsk gradually turned into a ghost town

    It has turned into little Baku.
  9. 0
    9 June 2020 15: 49
    Quote: Sapsan136
    so she is even far from Brezhnev ...

    Already not far, only amendments will be accepted, and hello, dear Leonid Ilyich.
  10. +3
    17 June 2020 23: 34
    Quote: Brancodd
    I do not dispute the statements in the article about "irresponsibility", etc. But, there is reason to believe that the problem is much more serious. The problem with permafrost. And our infrastructure on it. Here any supervisory authorities and even the form of ownership will be powerless.

    The question is actually not solved in such a complicated way. The government of modern Russia must prove its non-involvement in such an accident, and in future accidents, shifting ALL the costs of correcting the situation, and, without the slightest relief, not one iota, to the culprit of the disaster. Only for his loot, having arrested all accounts, depriving him of the possibility of withdrawal, and controlling any, smallest movement of funds in the company's accounts. By applying manual external control.
    Earlier, in the USSR, this could not be in principle, since all enterprises were state-owned, and the bankruptcy of any culprit is a blow to oneself. Today the situation is different. State involvement in the accident? Not. Only private sloppiness. The culprit must pay in full, and this will be an example for everyone. This will prove that the state is not involved and that the state does not depend on the oligarch.
    After that, anyone and everyone will do EVERYTHING to avoid this. It will be just cheaper.
  11. +1
    18 June 2020 13: 58
    Quote: Citizen Mѣshkov
    Such facilities should be owned and operated by the state, not by oligarchs.

    And we do not have a state, but an oligarchy under the leadership of a nullified ...
  12. 0
    18 June 2020 14: 04
    Quote: aleksandrmakedo
    The issue is actually not solved in such a complicated way. The government of modern Russia must prove its non-involvement in such an accident, and in future accidents, shifting ALL the costs of correcting the situation, and, without the slightest relief, not one iota, to the culprit of the disaster. Only for his loot, having arrested all accounts, depriving him of the possibility of withdrawal, and controlling any, smallest movement of funds in the company's accounts. Applying manual external control ...

    Thus, to strike a blow at the very concept of "oligarchy", which is guarded by the so-called "Government of Russia".