[Rockhounds] Russian River Runs Orange After a Catastrophic Mine Spill

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

Russian Instagram blogger Sergey Zamkadniy usually posts images of
beautiful sunsets or riverine adventures. His latest work, however, shows
a disaster unfolding in real-time. An abandoned mine in Russia’s Ural
Mountains has tainted streams orange.

Zamkadniy captured images <https://www.instagram.com/p/CCJPKS7JhGb/> of the
disaster last week. Now, AFP reports
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/16/russia-launches-pollution-investigation-after-streams-run-orange>
that Russian
authorities are launching an investigation into the latest in a strong
of environmental catastrophes to befall the nation.

The waste is from the Levikhinsky mine, an abandoned copper mine near the
village of Lyovikha in the western part of Siberia. The waste was supposed
to be stored inside ponds to be treated, but it appears that recent heavy
rains in the region have caused them to overflow. These rains also caused
<https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/rest-of-the-world-news/houses-washed-away-near-moscow-amid-floods.html>
a
dam to collapse and destroyed a number of buildings. According to AFP,
local environmentalist Andrei Volegov alerted Russia authorities last year
about the risk of overflow at the mine. They responded by saying the
company responsible for the waste didn’t have the money to treat the waste,
and now a disaster is unfolding.

https://earther.gizmodo.com/russian-river-runs-orange-after-a-catastrophic-mine-spi-1844403859