Investors will not be able to deal effectively with oil spills on the Prirazlomnaya - environmentalists
The harsh conditions of the Pechora Sea and the improper emergency plan will not allow the operator of Prirazlomnaya oil platform to effectively respond to a possible oil spill, Executive Director of Greenpeace International Kumi Naidoo told a press conference in Moscow, RIA Novosti reports.
Mr. Naidoo co-presented a study on the risks of northern oil exploration commissioned jointly by the Russian branches of Greenpeace and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
The study showed that a potential oil spill off Russia’s northern coast in the northern Pechora Sea can cover an area the size of Greece.
“Greenpeace and WWF commissioned independent oil spill modeling from the experts at the Russian center Informatica Riska, who ran various spill scenarios involving the Prirazlomnaya platform, to determine the total area which may be affected by an accident and whether or not the company is capable of dealing with oil spills. And the results aren’t pretty,” Jessica Wilson said in her blogpost on Greenpeace website.
"Our analysis showed that using the existing norms and standards [of Russian legislation] establishing a volume of oil spills [up to 10,000 tons], we can often observe conditions when the operating company will not be able to contain and recover the spill. For example, if a spill occurred at night or under adverse meteorological conditions. This can lead to significant pollution in the Pechora Sea coast and protected areas, " the Center’s Project Manager Valentin Zhuravel said.
Moreover, there are no technologies to clean up such a spill, WWF Russia head Igor Chestin said at the conference.
The study modeled consequences of a spill of 10,000 tons of oil. The spill is moderate compared to record-breakers such as the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the U.S. in 2010, where some 680,000 tons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, but would still suffice to pollute for decades much of the Pechora Sea and its coastal areas, including at least one nature reserve, experts said.
The Prirazlomnaya oil platform by Gazprom Neft Shelf has already been installed in the Pechora Sea and possibly began operating – though there is no way to know for sure, said Vladimir Chuprov of Greenpeace Russia.
The company is notoriously hard to contact, refusing or dodging most requests even about the platform’s most basic operations, said Chuprov, who supervises energy-related projects at the watchdog.
The platform’s state-approved contingency plan for oil spills expired in July, which means it is operating illegally, Chuprov said.
