Russia: Indigenous people fear Norilsk Nickel spill impacts on environment & their livelihoods
"Russian metals firm admits spillage turned river blood red," 12 Sep 2016
…Norilsk Nickel has admitted a spillage at one of its plants was responsible for turning a local river blood red…After initially refusing to confirm a leak, Norilsk Nickel…said heavy rain on 5 September had resulted in water flooding over a filtration dam at the plant and into the river. “Despite the short-term discolouration of the water ... this incident does not present a danger for people or fauna in the river,” the company said in a statement. Environmental activists, however, insisted that it was too early to judge the environmental impact…Greenpeace Russia official Alexei Kiselyov…said that investigating…was extremely difficult, because its infrastructure was located in remote areas…Groups representing indigenous populations in the area say that local media went out of their way to whitewash the company and did not inform the public after the accident…Sidor Chuprin, an indigenous activist…accused Norilsk Nickel workers of poor safety standards and said locals are concerned about the Daldykan river, because they fish in another river further downstream…