A major pipeline explosion exposes the danger posed by Russia's 140,000 km-long high pressure gaslines
IT's happened again in Russia. On April
27, huge walls of fire enveloped a thick
swath of uninhabited forest land after a
44-metre-long gas pipeline exploded in
the Komi Republic, 1287.2 km north-east of Moscow. The pilot of a Japanese
aircraft.flying over the inferno reported that the flames billowed as high
as 7,600 metres. "It happens every
week in Russia," says Alexander
Shuvalov, spokesperson for Greenpeace
International.
Gazprom, which owns the "disasterline", is finding it very hard to dispute
Shuvalov. In Komi alone, 2,740 leaks
were reported last year. Russian oil-workers are still struggling to clear
the remnants of 100,000 tonnes of
hot crude oil that spilled over and
contaminated 69 hectares of delicate
Arctic tundra near Usinsk, in Komi, last
October.
The World Bank lent Russia us $99
million to help clear the mess.
According to environmental NGOS operating in Russia, about 3/4th of Russia's
oil pipelines were built more than 10
years ago, with 10 per cent more than 35
years old. Last week saw 2 major breaks
in the national system, spewing out
198.9 cubic metres of crude oil in western Siberia's Tyumen region. fn
Kazakhstan, a series of leaks in the
Caspian Sea released more than 4972.5
cubic metres of crude. Inspectors discovered as many as 16 breaks.
Gazprom is putting up a valiant
defence. It says that almost all its
pipelines are in acceptable condition. "It
was the second such accident in the history of the national gas industry. The
last one occurred 20 years ago," insisted
Valery Remizov, deputy chairperson of
the company. He also promised that the
blast would not affect Russian gas
exports, delivering 30 per cent of western Europe's natural gas.
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