Event description

Last night, cyberterrorists sabotaged an oil pumping station on Tube’s main oil pipeline. The intruders gained access to the plant’s industrial control system, disabled the system for damping the pressure in the pipeline, and then switched off the transfer pumps. The resulting wave of pressure in the pipeline caused a water hammer, which ruptured one of the sections. Repair work is complicated by localized flooding.

It is the only oil pipeline running from the producing region to other areas. Its shutdown caused a shortage of crude oil on the domestic market. As a result, fuel retail prices surged in the central region. Refineries in neighboring regions likewise raised selling prices.

Some of the spilled oil got into the river, which supplies the city with water. The water treatment plants were not designed for such heavy pollution. Local residents complain that a mixture of oil products has been flowing from their hot-water taps for several days. Fifteen five-story apartment blocks were left without drinking water. "People can’t even take a shower. The sanitation is deplorable," says local resident Dmitry Katalkov.

Consequences

1. Damage to company property
2. Enterprise closure
3. Environmental damage
4. Financial damage
5. Health threat
6. Negative impact on industries across the state
7. Public discontent

This has happened before

CBC News

Elk Point pipeline restarted after oil spill

A heavy crude pipeline is up and running, one day after 1,400 barrels of oil leaked at a pumping station near Elk Point, Alta. The leak is the third major oilfield leak in the province in one month.