Comprehensive oil spill response exercises were held at the Vinogradovsky open pit mine, a branch of Kuzbass Fuel Company JSC.
The exercise involved specialists from the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for the Kemerovo Region – Kuzbass, the ECOSPAS emergency rescue service, the Company's management task force, specialists from the South Siberian Interregional Office of Rosprirodnadzor, the Siberian Office of Rostekhnadzor, and representatives of municipal civil defense and emergency services.
According to the legend, an emergency depressurization of a diesel fuel tank occurred at a fuel and lubricants warehouse on the open-pit mine site, leading to a leak. Warehouse employees immediately reported the simulated accident to the dispatcher and mine management and evacuated to a safe area. The dispatcher practiced alerting all emergency services about the incident.
In accordance with regulatory deadlines, all officials, forces, and resources necessary to localize and eliminate the oil leak arrived at the site of the training accident.
ECOSPAS fighters, as part of a reconnaissance group, determined the area and estimated volume of the fuel spill, as well as the maximum permissible concentration of hazardous substances in the air.
After this, rescuers installed retaining walls along the most likely path of oil spills, laid a sorbent boom, and provided additional protection against fuel spills using a special covering material. Thus, the accident was contained.
Next, they practiced collecting the hazardous liquid using oil pumping equipment. After completing the fuel transfer to the tanker, rescuers practiced treating the spill area with a sorbent to complete the emergency recovery operations. As ECOSPAS specialists noted, soil excavation (another cleanup step) at the simulated accident site was not required, as the main spill area is located on a concrete pad.
As reinforcements, a team of medics, a volunteer fire brigade in a tanker truck, a fuel tanker, and a truck were sent from the open pit mine to the scene of the simulated accident.
In total, about 40 people and more than 10 units of equipment from JSC KTK and the territorial subsystem of the RSChS were involved in the training activities.
“Such large-scale exercises are conducted systematically with the aim of developing sustainable skills among personnel in how to act in the event of a specific accident. We need to ensure that all participants in the response can respond promptly and adhere to regulations aimed at ensuring the success of emergency response operations and minimizing the consequences of an oil spill. This time, the exercise participants demonstrated a high level of professionalism, coordinated actions, and the ability to make prompt decisions in the event of such an emergency", - says Vyacheslav Deryabin, Head of the Department of Mobilization Preparation for Civil Defense and Emergencies of JSC KTK.
