"I have to see it to believe it," was the reaction to my Russian colleague, Jon Burgwald, when he told me that every spring the rivers in Northern Russia turn black with oil saturated ice.
He sent me the pictures last night (But I am now debuting the video for the first time) from his visit to Usinsk which borders the Arctic and has the unenviable title of Russia's oil capital. Before oil was discovered here in the 1970's Usinsk was a pristine area, with rivers villagers could drink from, teeming with life.
Now the winter thaw marks the annual running of the black ice. You have to see it to believe it and here is the video. It is b-roll with no narrative, but this kind of messed up content needs no explanation [note: send me some Effexor to help me deal with this kind of thing]:
Please don't be impatient with this, wait until you see the oil literally gooping its way down the river. [oh, and if you are on Chrome the video code is a mess so click here]
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