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50,000 Liters of Ether Leaked Into Atmosphere Above Finland

HELSINKI (Sputnik) - Over 50,000 liters of methyl tert-butyl ether — dangerous flammable substance — escaped into the atmosphere after a Russian railway tank derailed in Eastern Finland, the Finnish Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment said.
Sputnik

Earlier in the day, a Finnish body responsible for the investigation of transport accidents said that one of the rail tanks had gone off the rails in the Finnish municipality of Mantyharju in the east of the country. The body reported that 35,000 liters of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) had released into the environment.

The train comprised 50 Russian tank cisterns.

A rescue team, ecologists, and railway company representatives are currently working on the scene. No victims were reported as a result of the incident.

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According to a preliminary version of the Finnish authorities, the cause of the accident might be a technical breakage.

Methyl tert-butyl ether poses threat to environmental and health as its leakage results in particular contamination of groundwater.

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