RUSSIA: An emergency declared in southeast Siberia with up to 80,000 people without clean water as a giant oil slick floats down the Angara river

Record ID: 344193

  • Title: RUSSIA: An emergency declared in southeast Siberia with up to 80,000 people without clean water as a giant oil slick floats down the Angara river
  • Date: 28th April 2012
  • Summary: WATER TANK TRUCK ON STREET VARIOUS OF PEOPLE FILLING BUCKETS AND PLASTIC BOTTLES WITH WATER MAN CARRYING PLASTIC BOTTLES FULL WATER ON STREET
  • Embargoed: 13th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Disasters,Environment / Natural World
  • Reuters ID: LVA1JQTB2V1JUFQARUGSD5XZM73F
  • Story Text: Authorities is southeastern Siberia have declared an emergency in towns and villages as an oil slick floated down the Angara River, cutting clean water supplies to up to some 80,000 local people.
    The slick is reported to be about ten kilometres long, and emergency services have erected barriers in the river to try and prevent the oil from spreading further.
    Local government officials from the regional capital Irkutsk said the spill came as a result of illegal siphoning of diesel from an oil pipeline upriver.
    "There is an oil depot on the territory of the Usolsky district. Yesterday (April 25) an oil products leakage to the Angara river happened as result of unsanctioned connection to the pipeline by unknown persons," said Sergei Serebrinnikov, the Irkutsk Regional Government Deputy Head, while visiting the village of Svirsk, near the Angara River.
    Clean water to towns and villages in the area have been disrupted by the spill and local residents have been getting temporary water supplies from tankers.
    "How do I cope with it? I had a little saucepan, and it's good that I am living alone now, because my grandchildren have left for Irkutsk. Otherwise you can't cook ot use the toilet, so I don't know what to do without water any longer, " said Svirsk villager Anna Cherenkova, as she filled her water container at a tanker parked in the village street.
    Schools and kindergartens in the area had to be closed because of the lack of water, though hospitals were reported to be working as usual.
    Normal water supplies will be restored only once health officials can confirm that the oil concentration in water samples obtained from the River Angara has returned to permitted levels.
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