Russian scientists plan major Arctic expedition after fuel spill

Russian scientists areorganizing their first major expedition to the Arctic in decadesto study climate change, mining company Norilsk Nickelsaid on Thursday, weeks after a giant fuel leak at one of itspower plants in Siberia.

Arctic environment security has been in the spotlight since21,000 tonnes of diesel leaked from a tank at the power plant near the city of Norilsk on May 29.

"Such expeditions and in-depth studies beyond the ArcticCircle have not been carried out in several decades," Valentin Parmon, the expedition's scientific director, said in astatement.

The statement did not mention the spill or the source of thefunding.

Scientists from 14 institutions will spend July-November inthe Taymyr Peninsula, where the city of Norilsk is located, to study water, soil, biodiversity and permafrost.

An official investigation into the spill continues, butNornickel initially blamed melting permafrost driven by climate change for eroding the fuel tank's foundations. Federalinvestigators have blamed the poor state of the fuel tank.

Russia's environmental watchdog demanded Nornickel pay damages of $2 billion, while a series of smaller incidents atNornickel prompted Rusal, one of its majorshareholders, to demand an overhaul of its environmentalpolicies.

"For the implementation of large-scale plans for theArctic's development, it is important to know what geological and biochemical processes were the result of both natural andanthropogenic changes," Vladimir Potanin, Nornickel chiefexecutive and the largest shareholder, said in the statement.

"Nornickel, as the region's leading industrial developer, isaware of its responsibilities and intends to revise its approachto industrial ecology based on the results of the expedition."

Nornickel had collected 90 per cent of the spilled diesel and wasimproving environmental policies of its corporate culture,Gareth Penny, its board chairman, said earlier.