MOSCOW, July 8, 2020,/PRNewswire/ -- Nornickel, the world's largest producer of palladium and high-grade nickel and a major producer of platinum and copper, disputes the methodology used for calculating environmental damage caused by the diesel fuel spill near Norilsk on May 29th, as put forward by the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources Management (Rosprirodnadzor). At the same time, Nornickel reiterates its strong commitment to fully cover the cost of remediation of the environmental impact of this accident. Today, the company sent a letter to that effect to Rosprirodnadzor.
According to the company, the calculations of damages caused to water bodies and soil made by the Yenisei Interregional Department of Rosprirodnadzor are based on principles that led to the distortion of the results and need to be adjusted.
In particular, the maximum coefficient of 5 was applied in this calculation, which assumes that no measures аre taken to eliminate the negative impact of pollution on a water body (the Kdl coefficient). Meanwhile, according to the prevailing legal practice, such a coefficient is punitive in nature and is applied only in cases of gross negligence, when no pollution mitigation efforts after accidents have been undertaken at all, or over a long period of time. Considering the Company's immediate response and launch of the clean-up effort of the diesel spill, applying the maximum punitive Kdl coefficient cannot be justified.
Moreover, within the existing judicial practice, the maximum Kdl coefficient applies to cases of pollution of water bodies with pollutants that are soluble. Diesel fuel, if leaked to a water body, does not fall under the category of soluble pollutants, because it remains collectible from the water surface.
In the Company's opinion, the volume of oil sub-products spilled into the water bodies and soil has been also determined incorrectly, since the estimate was made before the collection of oil sub-products in this area was completed. Meanwhile, a significant part of the fuel spill has been neutralized by the sorbents applied. Read the full info here https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/norilsk-nickel-disagrees-with-methodology-used-for-calculating-fuel-spill-damages-301090407.html