20000 tons fuel leak near Norilsk mines in arctic Russia

Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 14 May 2020 at 06:16:29 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 18 May 2020 at 05:56:39 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 21 May 2020 at 06:06:29 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 31 May 2020 at 06:06:39 UTC
Author(s): Sentinel Vision team, VisioTerra, France - svp@visioterra.fr
Keyword(s): Polar, cryosphere, environment, pollution, oil spill, water colour, quater quality, river, hydrology, mine, Russia
Fig. 1 - S2 (21.05.2020) - State of emergency has been declared in Norilsk after 20 000 tons of diesel leaked into Arctic river system.
2D view 3D view
Fig. 2 - S2 (31.05.2020) - A diesel reservoir collapsed at a nickel power station outside the northern Siberian city of Norilsk.
3D view 3D animation
Fig. 3 - Bing Map basemap in true colours.
3D view
For 18 years, possibly longer, areas downstream of the fuel tank (leading to the Kayerkan district of Norilsk at north-east and to its coal mine at north-west) show in red, contrasting with the surrounding landscape.
Fig. 4 - S2 (21.05.2020) - View of Ambarnaya river before the leak.
3D view
Norilsk was founded at the end of the 1920s, it is the world's northernmost city with more than 100 000 inhabitants. With temporary inhabitants included, its population reaches 220 000. The nickel deposits of Norilsk-Talnakh are the largest-known nickel-copper-palladium deposits in the world. The smelting of the nickel ore is directly responsible for severe pollution, which generally comes in the form of acid rain and smog. By some estimates, one percent of global sulfur dioxide emission comes from Norilsk's nickel mines.
Fig. 5 - S2 (31.05.2020) - The river turned green and red due to this massive leak.
3D view 3D animation
15 000 tons of fuel have been released into Ambarnaya river and 6 000 tons into the soil. It will take decades for the river to recover - Source: Siberian Times.
The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency or the European Union.
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024, processed by VisioTerra.
More on European Commission space:
More on ESA: S-1 website S-2 website S-3 website
More on Copernicus program: Scihub portal Cophub portal Inthub portal Colhub portal
More on VisioTerra: Sentinel Vision Portal Envisat+ERS portal Swarm+GOCE portal CryoSat portal