Explained: Oil Spill In Russia’s Arctic Region That Turned A River Red And Why It’s Dangerous

Russia has declared a state of emergency after 20,000 tonnes of diesel oil leaked into the local Ambarnaya river in the Arctic region turning the surface crimson red.

The river flows into the Arctic Ocean — an ecologically sensitive region.

The oil spill was the result of fuel leak from a thermoelectric power plant in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk Region’s Norilsk city, around 3,000 km northeast of Moscow, in the Siberian peninsula.

How did it happen?

The power plant is reportedly built on permafrost (any ground that remains frozen continuously for at least two years is termed as permafrost).

The increasing temperature due to global warming poses a challenge to the stability of the permafrost. The thawing soil is weaker, and cause instability in the structures built on such grounds.

Reportedly, the permafrost weakened over the years due to climate change caused the pillars that supported the plant’s fuel tank to sink, leading to fuel leak on 29 May.

A weakening permafrost poses challenges of exacerbating the climate change. Ice is a good reflector of the sunlight, thereby reducing earth’s absorption of heat. When ice melts, this phenomena will reduce, further pushing the global warming.

It also threatens the unique biodiversity pertaining to the cold climate of these regions.

Permafrost around the world also holds methane hydrates, the release of which will not only increase global warming (as methane is a greenhouse gas), but also can potentially cause landslides, tsunamis etc.

How bad is the damage?

By volume, it is the second-largest known oil leak in modern Russia’s history. Apart from the magnitude of the spill, the shallowness of the river, the difficult weather conditions also make it harder to clean.

Reportedly, the installed buoys will only help collect a small part of the pollution and nearly all the diesel fuel will remain in the environment.

The oil spill will damage the Arctic waterways up to the tune of over $76 million.

The adverse impacts of the oil spills can be summarised as—

• oil spill poses an immediate fire hazard; resulting fires can cause severe air pollution
• many chemicals are toxic, bioaccumulative, carcinogenic for humans and can contaminate the water supply
• these chemicals can be oxidized by oxidants in the atmosphere to form fine particulate matter that can be inhaled by humans
• shorelines affected by the spill may become unable to nurture natural vegetation
• it adversely impacts fishing and tourism

The oil spills are also disastrous for the biodiversity and environment:

• aquatic species may ingest the oil causing poisoning
• insulating ability and buoyancy in water of fur-bearing animals is compromised, resulting in exposure to harsh climate
• egg and larval survival is adversely affected
• the animals may become blind, lose sense of smell required to find offspring/mates, lose ability to fly

How is an oil spill tackled?

Booms and skimmers are used, although they don’t work well in high winds. A solidifying agent can be used to turn the spilled oil from liquid to solid so that it can be removed more easily.

Machinery is used to pick up coagulated oil from the beach. A vacuum can be used to draw in water from the site and a centrifuge can then separate the oil from the water. These are capital-intensive processes.

Dispersants can be used to turn the oil into water-soluble micelles that are rapidly diluted. However, they are shown to increase the toxic hydrocarbon levels in fish by up to 100 times.

Bioremediation can be used to break down the oil. The bacteria like Alcanivorax and Methylocella silvestris etc. break down the oil. The natural bio-degradation can be speeded up by adding nutrients.

In the future, with genetic engineering, scientists can come up with a variety of biological agents adept at bioremediation.

In 2016, Indian scientists developed an ultrahydrophobic (water repallant) and extremely oleophilic (fat-loving) membrane that could potentially be used to clean up oil spills. The membrane was recyclable, worked using gravity, even in strong water currents.

Last year, IISER scientists used marble-sized wood pulp balls to absorb the oil. the small balls of cellulose and dipped them in a solution of the gelator could absorb oil 16 times their own weight.

In both these methods, the oil can be recovered later by application of ultrasonic waves and distillation respectively.