At 10.40 p.m. msk on December 23, 2014, a pipeline leak with oil emulsion seepage took place during pipeline testing at the 242nd km of the Tikhoretsk-Tuapse-2 oil pipeline under construction in the area of Grechesky Village, Tuapse Region. The total amount of leakage is estimated at 8.4 cubic meters.

The pipeline wall was damaged by a landslide. Some of the seeped oil emulsion got into the Tuapse River. As a result of unfavorable weather conditions – abundant precipitation and high wind – some of the oil emulsion ended up in the sea. On water surface in the Tuapse Bay, oil slicks were detected, which have been eliminated by now.

JSC Chernomortransneft promptly sent 330 specialists and 72 pieces of machinery, including 7 fire engines, to respond the incident. Remediation activities are conducted in the presence of representatives from the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office and the regional EMERCOM.

LLC RN-Krasnodarneftegaz, CJSC NIPI InzhGeo, OJSC Giprotruboprovod, LLC DSMU-Gazstroy, LLC Transneft Nadzor and OJSC AK Transneft are examining the pipeline leak area. The incident did not affect operation of Tuapse Refinery.

At the moment, comprehensive activities on final clean-up of the polluted area in the leak location are being performed. Booms have been installed in the Tuapse River along the riverbed; contaminated soil is being collected and removed from the incident site; water surface and coastal area are being cleaned up in the Tuapse Bay.

An incident response action plan has been developed in cooperation with the administration of the Tuapse Seaport, JSC Chernomortransneft, LLC RN-Tuapse Refinery and representatives of regulatory authorities.

Specialists of FSI CLATI, JSC Chernomortransneft and LLC RN-Tuapse Refinery are conducting environmental monitoring, take water samples from the Tuapse River on a regular basis in order to check them for the hydrocarbons content. Remediation shall continue until all consequences of the pipeline leak are completely eliminated.

Rosneft Information Division, Transneft Press Service