A river near an industrial town in Russia has turned suddenly blood-red. But it’s not an omen of something mystical wrong in the cosmos. Rather, the source of the problem is probably a leaky factory upstream.
Norilsk River, yesterday (Images: left: slipakolga / Instagram; top right:basalyga_katerina_nl / Instagram; bottom right: berezowskyvova / Instagram )
Several photos of the river’s blood-red hue were captured on Instagram by residents around Norilsk, Russia yesterday. Although the precise cause of the change isn’t yet confirmed, The Siberian Times reports that it’s happened a number of times before, and that pollution from a nickel factory on the river is believed to be the cause.
Norilsk Nickel, the company that owns the factory, so far denies that a leak in its plant is responsible for leaching colour into the river. But Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology said in a statement that it does believe a leaking slurry pipeline in the factory is the source and has ordered an investigation.