A disaster which has not occurred

At “Belkamneft” they claim to be ready to any emergency situations, and they prove their words by practical actions. The accident mimicked at the exercise, if occurred really, could put in jeopardy water supply of the city of Izhevsk and those living at the banks of the Kama and the Volga would have lost the possibility to bathe and fish

In fact the disaster could have occurred as follows: on July 16    the driver of an oil truck was crossing the bridge over the Zhidkovka river and lost control over the vehicle. The truck swung over. The driver got minor injuries, but the cistern depressurized and the oil spilled profusely. Some part of it remained at the ground but a certain quantity got into the river. A private driver passing by reported the accident to Viatka Production Center of Oil and Gas Direction No 1 of OAO “Belkamneft”. A few minutes later specialists arrived at the site accessed the level of the accident and reported it up the line…

“The situation modeled was very close to reality”, -  says the represebntative of engineering service of Direction No 1 Victor Armianinov. “It is a very complicated section of the road and the river meets the Kama a hundred meters farther. So the consequences can be very serious.”

Twenty minutes later (all the process was being time-checked) the experts informed that the oil reached the canal and flooded to the estuary of the Zhidkovka and farther to the Kama. There was little time for making decisions, but from the experience it was clear that urgent mobilization of all the means was necessary.

The Chief Engineer Oil and Gas Production Direction No 1 Ildar Abdeyev characterized Arlanskoye oilfield developed by OAO “Belkamneft” as a very difficult site with a lot of small rivers and big length of pipelines. “We have had no accidents up to the present”, -he says-  ”  but we must be ready for any emergencies. And this is the aim of our training. The present situation revealed high level of qualification of our workers, trained and prepared for work under any conditions”. These words were said after arrival of a column of heavy-duty specialized vehicles, a mimicked inflammation of oil products was liquidated and professional firemen showed their work. A pit for the spilled oil was dug and the overturned oil truck was (theoretically) put in proper position. The next stage of the work was to stop the multi-colored oil spot in the estuary of the Zhidkovka. This was done using “old folk methods” – a net and a pile of straw – as well as modern ones – a sorbent, absorbing various ingredients. By the way “Sorbent” – this word with different numbers attached to it was   the call sign for communication during the exercise. As a rule, emergency response exercises model the worst variant of all the situations. The oil spot  “escaped” into the Kama where ecological surveillance was already at work. Their reprt mad less than an hour after the accident was disappointing: the spot had passed the obstacles put in its way and  was moving down the stream. It was clear that still stronger measures were to be taken. head of Engineering Service of Oil and gas Production Direction No 1 Eduard Akhmtov said that they had at their disposal both people and equipment to cope with the situation. The column of specialized vehicles advanced to the place where it was decided to leave the oil spot. Chief Expert of special department of OAO “RussNeft” Sergei Yurgashev said that both the head company and its subsidiaries treat ecological problems very seriously and take all necessary
measures. The situation of “Belkamneft” is among the most difficult ones for there are so many rivers and lakes at its territory. But the results of the emergency exercise showed that in case of emergency the plant is ready to liquidate the consequences quickly and competently. Speaking about the technical side of work we can say, without describing all the details, that the oilmen used the most up-to-date equipment. The plant didn’t spare money for it, because the oilmen fell responsible for ecological problems. Modern technical means and technologies give the possibility to remove oil spots from water surface with maximal efficiency/ Oil-collecting equipment “Kama-1000” puts reliable barrier at the way of hydrocarbons spilled over the water. But people are the main force. According to General Director of OAO “Belkamneft” they saved almost all the European part of Russia – from Udmurtia to the Caspian sea – from water pollution. In Udmurtia, the land of springs, spill of oil can have very serious consequences. But the results of the emergency exercise proved that  ecological security at “Belkamneft” is guarded by real professionals.