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Publish date: July 4, 2007
News
Information on the fire reached the emergency situations ministry for Tatarstan at 18.10 Moscow time yesterday, reports Interfax. “There was an explosion followed by an outburst of fire on one of the underground branches of the gas pipeline” the press service said. A rupture occurred in the Yamburg-Western Border pipeline in the Volga River region of Tatarstan, about 700 kilometers east of Moscow, according to Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov and the regional subsidiary of Russian gas monopoly OAO Gazprom.
They said the affected section was shut off and gas was being transported through parallel lines, leaving supplies unaffected. The sound of the fire sparked by the rupture could be heard in Arsk, a small city 10-15 kilometers away, and the glow from the flames could be seen for dozens of kilometers around, the Interfax news agency reported.
It took 11 hours for the firefighters to put down the blaze, which was caused by gas burning off. The RIA-Novosti news agency reported that firefighters were taking measures to prevent the flames from reaching a nearby village, which was evacuated.
The pipeline carries gas from western Siberia to Russia’s border for transport into Europe, which relies on Russia for more than two-fifths of its gas. The affected section, which is 1.4 meters in diameter, was shut down to isolate the emergency, according to Beltsov and a statement from the regional Gazprom subsidiary, OOO Tattransgaz. Tattransgaz said repairs would begin after the gas in the affected section burns off, AP reported.
Recent attacks on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "mark the beginning of a new and gravely dangerous front of the war," the UN atomic agency's director general said last week.
After years of inaction, Germany is working on its Carbon Management Strategy to resolve how CCS can play a role in climate action in industry. At the end of February, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action published first key points and a proposal to amend the law Kohlenstoffdioxid Speicherungsgesetz (KSpG). Bellona Deutschland, who was actively involved in the previous stakeholder dialogue submitted a statement in the association hearing.
In the midst of a global discussion on whether natural gas should be used as a transitional fuel and whether emissions from its extraction, production, transport and use are significantly less than those from other fossil fuels, Russia has developed ambitious plans to increase its own production of liquified natural gas (LNG) in the Arctic – a region with 75% of proven gas reserves in Russia – to raise its share in the international gas trade.
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our main focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution risks and climate change.