Die­sel leaka­ge at Kapp Lin­né

The old radio sta­ti­on Isfjord Radio at Kapp Lin­né at the mouth of Isfjord was aban­do­ned about 10 years ago. Today, the pro­tec­ted buil­dings are used only during the spring and sum­mer sea­son for tou­ris­tic pur­po­ses. For the rest of the year, the houses are stan­ding empty, most­ly without super­vi­si­on.

Employees of the owner SNSG (Store Nor­ske Spits­ber­gen Gru­bekom­pa­ni) have dis­co­ve­r­ed a die­sel leaka­ge. It is uncer­tain for how long die­sel could escape from the tank, but the Sys­sel­man­nen assu­mes that up to 100,000 or 150,000 litres may have ent­e­red the local envi­ron­ment. The leaka­ge hap­pen­ed in a gene­ra­tor room.

The polar win­ter makes it impos­si­ble to take coun­ter­ac­ti­ve mea­su­res.