The heads of CHPP-3 are detained in the case of a spill of oil products in Norilsk

According to her, in the case of a spill of more than 21 thousand cubic meters of diesel fuel at CHPP-3 near Norilsk, which caused a large-scale environmental disaster, its director Pavel Smirnov, chief engineer Alexei Stepanov and his deputy Yuri Kuznetsov were detained.

The detention of the leadership of the CHPP-3 is reported by Interfax. This happened because the investigation found that since 2018, the storage tank required major repairs and did not meet safety requirements, but it still was used.

"Today these persons were detained on suspicion of committing a crime under Article 246 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of environmental protection rules when operating industrial facilities by persons responsible for complying with these rules if this entailed grave consequences)", the newspaper quotes Svetlana Petrenko as saying Kommersant". Soon the detainees will be charged, they will decide on the choice of a preventive measure for them. The Investigative Committee insists on their detention.

The accident itself at CHPP-3 occurred on May 29. The object belongs to the Norilsk-Taimyr energy company, which is part of the Norilsk Nickel structure. However, the country's leadership found out about this only a few days later, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed indignation that they had to get information about it from social networks. Then the accident, which led to the ingress of diesel fuel into local rivers, was declared an emergency on a federal scale. Two days ago, the charge was presented to the head of the shop of the Norilsk TPP-3 Vyacheslav Starostin according to Art. 246 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of environmental protection rules during work).

Meanwhile, Krasnoyarsk scientists determined that after the accident at CHPP-3, oil products penetrated the soil to a depth of at least 2-5 centimeters (which for the polar regions often makes up the entire thickness of the soil layer). Oil products have already been found in the glacial lake Pyasino - a unique natural site rich in fish and other fauna. Experts believe that the consequences of the accident will have to be eliminated for at least 10 years.