Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Mining / tailings dam · Russia · 2017–2024

Talnakh Concentrator tailings facility: wastewater pumped onto the tundra, 2017–2020

Nature's voice · report
Rosprirodnadzor soil samples from my tundra showed contamination, including a lower mass fraction of organic matter at the contaminated site than in background samples.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record. Disputed
Recorded
  • The Investigative Committee stated in 2024 that my soil and surface water were chemically contaminated with copper and nickel. Kommersant
  • The prosecutor's office said 209 thousand square metres of my soil were polluted, according to one outlet. ABN (abnews.ru)
  • Greenpeace samples from my Kharaelakh River near the discharge, taken on 25 June 2020, showed anionic surfactants at 50 times the maximum permissible concentration and iron at 3 times. Radio Svoboda
  • Greenpeace reported a strong unpleasant smell and dead trees at the site. Meduza
  • WWF Russia, citing satellite imagery, said discharges had been recorded since 2017 and that my Shchuchya River bore the main effluent load. Snob
  • A lake of 600 square metres near Tukhard received 44 tonnes of aviation fuel in June 2020, according to Current Time. Current Time
  • About 44.5 tonnes of oil entered my waters.
    Interfax; Current Time gave 44 tonnes into a lake of 600 square metres. Tukhard, Norilsktransgaz pipeline.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 3 not disclosed · 1 self-reported only · 5 disputed · 3 unclear See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Did the June 2020 discharge cause significant harm to the environment?
  • Company or project Nornickel: Water samples of 28 June 2020 from the TOF settling pond indicated the discharge could not cause significant environmental harm; the 2017–2019 meltwater passed through the unclosed contour without negative environmental impact. Interfax
  • Communities and civil society Greenpeace Russia: Samples near the discharge on the Kharaelakh River showed anionic surfactants at 50 times the maximum permissible concentration and iron at 3 times. Radio Svoboda
  • Government and regulators Rosprirodnadzor: Soil samples showed contamination, including a lower mass fraction of organic matter than in background samples. Novaya Gazeta
  • Government and regulators Investigative Committee (2024): Soil and surface water were chemically contaminated with copper and nickel. Kommersant

Wastewater from the Talnakh Concentrator tailings facility near Norilsk was pumped onto the tundra in June 2020, after earlier discharges recorded from 2017. In July 2024 five people were charged under Article 246 of the Criminal Code; no court outcome is on record.

> RUB 320m / RUB 282mDamage stated by investigators vs amount paid voluntarily
Investigative Committee, July 2024: total damage of more than RUB 320m; RUB 282m paid voluntarily during the investigation. Sources differ on who paid.

Status As of October 2026: five people were charged under Article 246 in July 2024 and the case was sent to the prosecutor; no court outcome is on record.

What?
Wastewater from the Talnakh Concentrator tailings facility was pumped onto the tundra in June 2020, after discharges recorded from 2017. Investigators put total damage at more than RUB 320m, with RUB 282m paid voluntarily; five people were charged in July 2024. Kommersant
Where?
The tailings storage facility of the Talnakh Concentrator (TOF), Talnakh district of Norilsk; the discharge path ran through tundra, streams, the Kharaelakh River and Lake Pyasino. The 2017–2019 discharges went to the Tomulakh River intake zone and to soil near the Oktyabrsky mine. Meduza
When?
Discharges between June 2017 and July 2019; pumping discovered on 28 June 2020; criminal case opened on 1 July 2020; claim filed on 26 February 2021; five people charged on 3 July 2024. Kommersant
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
  • Talnakh Concentrator management (Nornickel) — The TOF director, the chief engineer and the deputy chief engineer were dismissed on 13 July 2020 Interfax
  • Payer of the RUB 282m (Nornickel or the defendants, sources differ) — RUB 282m paid voluntarily during the investigation; property worth more than RUB 55m seized Kommersant
Harmed
  • Tundra soil near the Talnakh Concentrator — Contamination reported by Rosprirodnadzor; 209 thousand square metres per the prosecutor's office ABN (abnews.ru)
  • Kharaelakh River — Anionic surfactants at 50 times and iron at 3 times the maximum permissible concentration in Greenpeace samples Radio Svoboda
  • Tomulakh River intake zone and soil near the Oktyabrsky mine — Receiving discharges in 2017–2019 named in the 16 June 2020 case Kommersant
Why?
Rosprirodnadzor's head said the liquid was pumped to prevent possible emergencies after water levels rose; Nornickel called the discharge a gross violation of operating rules. Investigators accused the five of knowing of significant defects in the hydrotechnical structure. Vedomosti
How?
Workers laid two flexible pipelines connected to a floating pumping unit and pumped wastewater from the tailings facility onto the tundra on 28 June 2020; recycled water was also discharged beyond the settling pond in 2018–2019, according to the charges. InvestFuture
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

On 28 June 2020 journalists of Novaya Gazeta, Greenpeace Russia activists and Vasily Ryabinin, a former deputy head of the Norilsk Rosprirodnadzor department, found pumps draining liquid from the tailings dam of the Talnakh Concentrator (TOF) onto the tundra. Ryabinin called the police, the Emergencies Ministry (MChS), Rosprirodnadzor and the prosecutor's office. Nornickel security then turned off the pumping station, and a caterpillar tractor crushed a police car that had brought prosecutor's office staff. Meduza gave the discharge path as tundra, streams, the Kharaelakh River and Lake Pyasino.

Rosprirodnadzor's 2021 claim stated that on 28 June 2020 company workers laid two flexible pipelines connected to a floating pumping unit to discharge wastewater from the TOF tailings facility onto the tundra; MChS warned of a threat to the Kharaelakh River and the pumping was stopped. Nornickel called the discharge a "gross violation" of the tailings facility's operating rules. Its internal investigation found two episodes of unauthorised discharge of process water onto nearby land through flexible pipelines and floating pumping stations, and on 13 July 2020 it dismissed the TOF director, the chief engineer and the deputy chief engineer for operations and industrial and environmental safety of hydraulic structures. No source gives the volume discharged.

Earlier, on 16 June 2020, a criminal case was opened under Article 246 of the Criminal Code over discharges between June 2017 and July 2019 into the Tomulakh River intake zone and onto soil near the Oktyabrsky mine, against unidentified employees of Nornickel and JSC Mekhanobrinzhiniring; Rosprirodnadzor estimated the cost of restoring the environment at more than RUB 154m. On 1 July 2020 the Norilsk branch of the Investigative Committee opened a second case over the June 2020 pumping. WWF Russia, citing satellite imagery, said discharges had been recorded since 2017 and that the Shchuchya River bore the main effluent load; Nornickel said meltwater had passed through the unclosed contour of the second-stage tailings facility under construction "without negative environmental impact".

On 26 February 2021 Rosprirodnadzor's Yenisei Interregional Department sued PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel in the Arbitration Court of Krasnoyarsk Krai for RUB 12,549,600 for soil damage from the June 2020 discharge. On 3 July 2024 the Investigative Committee's Main Investigative Directorate for Krasnoyarsk Krai and Khakassia completed its investigation and five people were charged under Article 246 for the period 2016–2021. It put the total damage at more than RUB 320m, with soil and surface water contaminated with copper and nickel, said RUB 282m had been paid voluntarily, and said property worth more than RUB 55m had been seized. The case was sent to the prosecutor to approve the indictment before going to court.

Nornickel's Sustainability Report 2024 gives "Charges paid by the Company to remedy damages arising from non-compliance with environmental laws (excluding environmental fines)" of RUB 8m in 2020, RUB 146,205m in 2021, RUB 236m in 2022, RUB 15m in 2023 and RUB 276m in 2024; for 2024 it says the charges were largely related to compensation for soil disturbance caused by meltwater and stormwater from the section of the Talnakh Concentrator's tailings storage facility that was under construction.

The Sustainability Report 2023 names two further 2023 cases in connection with these charges, without amounts: effluents discharged into the Yenisei River above permissible pollutant levels by the Dudinka oil depot of TTK, and soil damage from a mining-water stream at discharge point No. 170 of the Oktyabrsky Mine (Polar Division).

In June 2020 a pipeline of Norilsktransgaz, a Nornickel group company, lost pressure near Tukhard (Taimyr). Interfax reported that about 44.5 tonnes of aviation fuel were released and a criminal case was opened; Current Time reported 44 tonnes into an unnamed lake of 600 square metres and an emergency regime in Tukhard.

  1. 2017Start of the discharges (June 2017 – July 2019) named in the 16 June 2020 criminal case; WWF Russia says discharges have been recorded since 2017
  2. 2020Criminal case on the Tomulakh discharges (16 Jun); Greenpeace samples on the Kharaelakh (25 Jun); pumping discovered (28 Jun); criminal case on the pumping (1 Jul); dismissals (13 Jul); Tukhard aviation-fuel release (June)
  3. 2021Rosprirodnadzor files a RUB 12,549,600 claim (26 Feb)
  4. 2023Company names Dudinka oil depot and Oktyabrsky Mine cases in its sustainability report
  5. 2024Investigation completed; five people charged under Article 246; case sent to the prosecutor (3 Jul)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“There is no threat of a tailings leak”

Nornickel · 2020-06-28 · translated from Russian · Meduza

“gross violation”

Nornickel, on the discharge of process water by the Talnakh Concentrator · 2020-06-28 · translated from Russian · Meduza

“is not provided for”

Nornickel, on discharging recycled water beyond the TOF tailings perimeter · 2020-07-13 · translated from Russian · Interfax

“without negative environmental impact”

Nornickel, on the 2017–2019 meltwater episodes · 2020-06 · translated from Russian · Snob

“for the prevention of possible emergency situations”

Svetlana Radionova, head of Rosprirodnadzor, on why the liquid was pumped · 2020-06 · translated from Russian · Meduza

“This is lawlessness and a crime against nature and our children. Cleanup needs to begin immediately”

Vasily Ryabinin, former deputy head of the Norilsk Rosprirodnadzor department (Meduza translation) · 2020-06-29 · translated from Russian · Meduza

“neither company management nor regulators made adequate attempts to fix the situation”

Alexey Knizhnikov, WWF Russia, on why the situation was not corrected (translated) · 2020-06-26 · translated from Russian · Snob

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Did the June 2020 discharge cause significant harm to the environment?
Company or project
Nornickel

Water samples of 28 June 2020 from the TOF settling pond indicated the discharge could not cause significant environmental harm; the 2017–2019 meltwater passed through the unclosed contour without negative environmental impact.

Interfax
Communities and civil society
Greenpeace Russia

Samples near the discharge on the Kharaelakh River showed anionic surfactants at 50 times the maximum permissible concentration and iron at 3 times.

Radio Svoboda
Government and regulators
Rosprirodnadzor

Soil samples showed contamination, including a lower mass fraction of organic matter than in background samples.

Novaya Gazeta
Government and regulators
Investigative Committee (2024)

Soil and surface water were chemically contaminated with copper and nickel.

Kommersant
Why was the liquid pumped onto the tundra, and was it authorised?
Government and regulators
Rosprirodnadzor (head Svetlana Radionova)

The liquid was pumped for the prevention of possible emergency situations after water levels rose during hot-water pipeline testing and rainfall.

Meduza
Government and regulators
MChS Krasnoyarsk

Called the pumping unauthorised.

Meduza
Company or project
Nornickel

Called the discharge a gross violation of the tailings facility's operating rules; its internal investigation found two episodes of unauthorised discharge.

Interfax
Who paid the RUB 282m, and whose property was seized?
Press and investigations
Kommersant

Nornickel paid and company property was seized; the five charged are TOF employees.

Kommersant
Press and investigations
Vedomosti

The defendants paid and employees' property was seized; the five charged are TOF employees.

Vedomosti
Press and investigations
ABN

The company paid and plant property was seized; the five charged are employees of contractor companies.

ABN (abnews.ru)

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Water samples of 28 June 2020 from the TOF settling pond indicated that the discharge could not cause significant environmental harm
    Nornickel · Interfax
  • Meltwater passed through the unclosed contour of the second-stage tailings facility without negative environmental impact, citing June–July 2019 tests by a Rosprirodnadzor specialised laboratory
    Nornickel · Snob
  • On 30 September 2026 Expert RA raised Nornickel's ESG rating to ESG-AA- (from ESG-A+); the release mentions completion of main recovery work after the 2020 accident, a compensation programme with Rosrybolovstvo for aquatic bioresources running to 2052, and exceedances of pollutant limits in Norilsk
    Expert RA (release summary) · Expert RA
  • 52% of Group assets were certified to ISO 14001 at the end of 2025
    Nornickel Annual Report 2025 · Nornickel

Recorded

  • Rosprirodnadzor soil samples showed contamination, including a lower mass fraction of organic matter at the contaminated site than in background samples
    Novaya Gazeta
  • Investigative Committee, July 2024: soil and surface water contaminated with copper and nickel; total damage of more than RUB 320m; RUB 282m paid voluntarily; property worth more than RUB 55m seized
    Kommersant
  • Prosecutor's office: soil polluted over 209 thousand square metres (single outlet)
    ABN (abnews.ru)
  • Greenpeace samples near the discharge on the Kharaelakh River, taken on 25 June: anionic surfactants at 50 times the maximum permissible concentration and iron at 3 times
    Radio Svoboda
  • Company-reported damage-remediation charges, excluding fines, in RUB m: 2020: 8; 2021: 146,205; 2022: 236; 2023: 15; 2024: 276
    Nornickel

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
Restoration cost estimate, 2017–2019 discharges (Rosprirodnadzor)> 154m
Window: 2017–2019
Soil-damage claim, June 2020 discharge (Rosprirodnadzor)13m
Window: 2020
Claim filed 26 February 2021; no outcome on record.
Total damage stated by the Investigative Committee (2024)> 320m
Window: 2016–2021
Paid voluntarily during the investigation (Investigative Committee)282m
Window: 2024
Sources differ on who paid.
Company-reported damage-remediation charges, excluding fines, 20208m
Window: 2020
Company-reported damage-remediation charges, excluding fines, 2021146.2bn
Window: 2021
The same report separately lists "RUB 146 billion paid in 2021".
Company-reported damage-remediation charges, excluding fines, 2022236m
Window: 2022
Company-reported damage-remediation charges, excluding fines, 202315m
Window: 2023
Company-reported damage-remediation charges, excluding fines, 2024276m
Window: 2024
Largely related to compensation for soil disturbance by meltwater and stormwater from the section of the tailings facility under construction.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: RUB · Window: Mixed — see each line. Figures cover different periods and are not compared as a ratio. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • nornickel (2020-06-28): Called the discharge a gross violation of the tailings facility's operating rules; said there was no threat of a tailings leak. · Meduza
  • nornickel (2020-07-13): Its internal investigation found two episodes of unauthorised discharge of process water onto nearby land; it dismissed the TOF director, the chief engineer and the deputy chief engineer. It said samples of 28 June 2020 from the settling pond indicated no significant environmental harm, that it had no documentary evidence of similar past violations, and that it did not rule out earlier lapses. · Interfax
  • nornickel (2020-06): On the 2017–2019 episodes, said meltwater passed through the unclosed contour of the second-stage tailings facility under construction without negative environmental impact. · Snob
  • rosprirodnadzor (2020-06): Its head said the liquid was pumped for the prevention of possible emergency situations after water levels rose during hot-water pipeline testing and rainfall. · Meduza
  • wwf-russia (2020-06-26): Said discharges had been recorded since 2017 and that it was unclear why neither company management nor regulators made adequate attempts to fix the situation. · Snob

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2020–OngoingRUB 154m restoration cost estimate by Rosprirodnadzor (more than)
    Criminal case on the 2017–2019 discharges (Tomulakh River, Oktyabrsky mine soil)
    Investigative authorities; case opened under Article 246 of the Criminal Code · Criminal · Investigative authorities → Unidentified employees of Nornickel and JSC Mekhanobrinzhiniring

    Opened on 16 June 2020 under Article 246 over discharges between June 2017 and July 2019. No persons had been identified at that stage. Rosprirodnadzor estimated the cost of restoring the environment at more than RUB 154m. Kommersant

  2. 2020–Ongoing
    Criminal case on the June 2020 pumping at the Talnakh Concentrator tailings facility
    Norilsk branch of the Investigative Committee · Criminal · Investigative Committee → Not named in the sources

    Opened on 1 July 2020 for breach of environmental rules in operating the tailings storage facility for the Talnakh Concentrator's production waste. Current Time

  3. 2024–OngoingRUB 320m total damage stated by investigators (more than)
    Charges of five people under Article 246 (2016–2021 period)
    Investigative Committee, Main Investigative Directorate for Krasnoyarsk Krai and Khakassia; case sent to the prosecutor · Criminal · Investigative Committee → Five people charged; not named in the sources

    Investigation completed on 3 July 2024. The five were accused of knowing of significant defects in the hydrotechnical structure, of repeated discharges of recycled water beyond the settling pond in 2018–2019, and of pumping recycled water onto land outside it in June 2020. RUB 282m was paid voluntarily and property worth more than RUB 55m was seized. The case was sent to the prosecutor to approve the indictment before going to court; no court outcome is on record. Vedomosti

  4. 2021–Outcome not on recordRUB 12.55m claimed
    Rosprirodnadzor v. PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel (soil damage, June 2020 discharge)
    Arbitration Court of Krasnoyarsk Krai · Civil · Rosprirodnadzor, Yenisei Interregional Department → PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel

    A claim for RUB 12,549,600 was filed on 26 February 2021. Rosprirodnadzor stated that soil samples showed contamination. No ruling, settlement or payment is on record. Novaya Gazeta

  5. 2020–Outcome not on record
    Criminal case on the Tukhard aviation-fuel release
    Not stated in the source · Criminal · Not stated → Not named in the source

    Interfax reported on 13 July 2020 that a criminal case was opened after a Norilsktransgaz pipeline lost pressure near Tukhard and about 44.5 tonnes of aviation fuel were released. Interfax

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Damage stated by investigators
> RUB 320m
Investigative Committee, July 2024; RUB 282m paid voluntarily
Soil polluted
209,000 m²
Prosecutor's office, via one outlet
Surfactants vs permissible level
50×
Greenpeace sample, Kharaelakh River, 25 June 2020
Court outcome
None on record
Five people charged under Article 246, July 2024

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Case pending / contestedKey earnings undisclosed

Nature

  • Disputed Did the June 2020 discharge cause significant harm to the environment?

Court

  • Unclear Rosprirodnadzor v. PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel (soil damage, June 2020 discharge): outcome not on record.
  • Unclear Criminal case on the Tukhard aviation-fuel release: outcome not on record.

Accounts

  • Disputed Why was the liquid pumped onto the tundra, and was it authorised?
  • Disputed Who paid the RUB 282m, and whose property was seized?

Record

  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: the volume of wastewater pumped onto the tundra in June 2020; none of the sources gives it.
  • None on record None on record: a court referral, verdict or termination of the Article 246 case against the five people charged in July 2024. The charged people are not named in the sources.
  • None on record None on record: the outcome of the RUB 12,549,600 arbitration claim, or its case number.
  • Unclear Unclear: whether the case on the 2017–2019 discharges (restoration cost over RUB 154m) and the 2024 indictment (2016–2021, over RUB 320m) are the same or merged proceedings; no source states it.
  • Disputed Figures differ: Kommersant reported that Nornickel paid the RUB 282m and that company property was seized; Vedomosti reported that the defendants paid and employees' property was seized; ABN reported that the company paid and plant property was seized.
  • Disputed Figures differ: Interfax gave about 44.5 tonnes of aviation fuel released near Tukhard; Current Time gave 44 tonnes.
  • Self-reported only Self-reported only: the 209 thousand square metre area of polluted soil comes from the prosecutor's office, as reported by one outlet.
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: whether the company-reported charges for 2022 or 2024 include the RUB 282m the Investigative Committee said was paid.
  • Not disclosed Not disclosed: amounts per case for the 2023 Dudinka oil depot and Oktyabrsky Mine cases, and measured concentrations or areas for them and for the 2024 soil disturbance; the company's report gives "No amounts" per case.
  • None on record None on record: a damage claim, ruling or payment for the Tukhard aviation-fuel release.

Did the harm stop?

The pumping observed on 28 June 2020 stopped after Nornickel security turned off the pumping station.

Who paid?

RUB 282m was paid voluntarily during the investigation; sources differ on whether the company or the defendants paid. The outcome of the RUB 12.5m soil claim is not on record.

Sources

Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

Company or project

Press and investigations

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Science and environment

Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
Tailings and tailings dam
Tailings are the waste left after ore is processed; a tailings dam is the embankment that stores them as wet sludge.

Law and courts

Arbitration
A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.

Carbon and conservation finance

ESG
Environmental, social and governance criteria that investors and insurers use to screen companies and projects.
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