Greenpeace said on Wednesday that it found toxic substances in water samples collected from mining giant Norilsk Nickel's wastewater treatment plant in Russia’s Arctic region at the highest level 50 Times.
The miner admitted last month that its Talnakh metal processing plant used pumps to dump industrial water near Norilsk on June 28, and said that it had fired several managers of the plant after learning about it.
Greenpeace and the "New Russian newspaper" discovered the treatment plant while investigating the damage caused by a large-scale diesel spill at a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel Industry (Norilsk). The organization stated that the wastewater had flowed into a local river.
Norilsk Nickel cited its own water samples as saying that the accident should not have a substantial impact on the environment and the Karabakh River.
Greenpeace said on Wednesday that the anionic surfactant content in the samples collected at the site was 50 times the allowable level. The organization said anionic surfactants would make water unsuitable for plants and animals.
It means that, in addition, they have a higher iron content.
The company said it is reviewing the findings of Greenpeace.
Greenpeace stated that in June of this year, they collected several water samples near Norilsk, an industrial city in the Arctic Circle. After going to the city to assess the ecological damage caused by the diesel spill, they asked a laboratory in St. Petersburg to Water samples were tested.
Norilsk Nickel is accused of covering up the scale of the leak.
Environmentalists and a former environmental official claimed that fuel leaked into lakes and rivers, which in turn polluted the Arctic Ocean. But Norilsk Nickel denied it.
Greenpeace said some water samples contained petroleum products, but did not exceed the allowable level.
