Vladimir Uyba, the head of the Komi Republic, has lifted the regime of emergency in three districts of the republic — Usinsk, Izhma, and Ust-Tsilma. It was imposed in May after an oil spill at Oshsky Oil Field, owned by the LUKOIL-Komi Company, on the border with the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The decree on lifting the regime of emergency was published on the website of the legal acts of the Komi Republic on June 23.
The decree says that the regime of emergency had been lifted due to the elimination of the damage caused by the accident and no risk of floating oil spreading over the municipalities’ water bodies. Despite this, Vladimir Uyba recommended that the Head of Usinsk continue monitoring the skimming of floating oil in the Kolva river.
At the same time, The Save Pechora Committee reported that officials’ and oil workers’ information about the finished oil spill clean-up was not true. Environmentalists came to such conclusions after they examined the area affected by the oil spill together with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), residents of the villages of Kolva, Ust-Usa, and Novikbozh in mid-June.
It became known about the accident at Oshsky Oil Field in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug on May 11. After it, the regime of emergency was imposed in three districts of the republic. As a result of the accident, about 100 tons of oil have spilled overland and into the water. Two criminal cases were initiated by the directorates of the Investigation Committee.
The Save Pechora Committee stated that oil workers could have underestimated the data on the oil leak rate fourfold. The Novaya Gazeta Newspaper found out that the maximum permissible concentration of oil in the Kolva river was exceeded by 500 times. Three weeks after the accident, LUKOIL reported that the damage caused by the accident had been eliminated.
After what happened, the State Council of the Komi Republic prepared an appeal to the State Duma and the Federation Council with a request to limit the working lifespan of oil pipelines, introduce a multiplier when calculating a compensation for damage caused to the environment, and increase fines for oil spills.
