"The amount of oil spilled from the pipeline in the Vozei-Usinsk region in the republic is at least five times higher than claimed by Komi officials," group leader Michael Elmquist told a news conference.
The UN experts concluded that the pollution -- about twice as much as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska -- had resulted from several leaks over many years. These became more frequent in the summer and autumn of 1994.
Komi officials estimated that pipeline leaks spilled 14,000 tons over the Arctic tundra this autumn, but the private Russian company Geopolis put the amount at 79,000 tons.
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