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Trying to be a step ahead

A digital system created on Yamal will allow for the fastest possible response to oil spills

12 may 2022

12.05.2022 // A new digital rapid warning system has been created on Yamal, which will help respond to an oil spill within half an hour. At the heart of its work is the consolidation of the forces of emergency services and mining companies, which saves not only money, but time as well.

The digital rapid response system is synchronised with the unified mapping system of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region. Therefore, if there is an emergency, it will help to quickly identify the area of the oil spill, as well as the user of the deposit. It will also show the road infrastructure in the specified area. The data will be immediately sent to the Regional Dispatch Centre, where experts will study the area and decide what the rapid response measures should be.

The digital system includes detailed information about each mining enterprise of the fuel and energy complex, including the equipment it owns. Information on all oil storage facilities, wells and pipelines, including those under construction, and even surface water intakes is contained in one database. All this data will help in the assessment of whoever is the closest to the emergency site, which will allow the Regional Dispatch Centre to send out a task force to investigate the oil slick within 30 minutes.

'This is a way to get information very quickly and coordinate the actions of different services — 1.5 hours is enough to make a decision on the localisation. Yes, every organisation working with hydrocarbons has a plan for preventing and eliminating oil and petroleum product spills, but our mechanism allows prompt communication,' — explains Sergei Khrushchev, Director of the Department of Natural Resources Regulation, Forestry Relations and Oil and Gas Industry Development of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region.

In order to save the mining companies the trouble of taking into account the costs of cleaning up an oil spill at someone else's site, the regional authorities will enter into cooperation agreements with them. All expenses for equipment, fuel, sorbent, skimmers for oil collection will be compensated. Such horizontal integration will save both money and time.

The creation of a digital rapid response system on Yamal was first considered after the accident in Norilsk in 2020. Back then, a diesel fuel tank of the CHPP-3 leaked and 20,000 tons of petrochemicals spilled out. Some of it ended up in the Ambarnaya River. As a result, the damage amounted to almost 148 billion rubles, and the whole country had to deal with the consequences.

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