The construction of a new oil depot in Siberia could lead to an outbreak of anthrax, environmental charity Greenpeace has warned.

The group petitioned the Russian government alongside the Taimyr Indigenous Peoples Association to halt construction of Independent Gas and Oil Company's Tanalau depot in the Krasnoyarsk region.

Activists claim that the project is environmentally unsafe and risks the lives of the indigenous Taimyr peoples.

The planned construction site includes two former anthrax hotspots, each measuring some 60 square kilometers, the taiga.info news site reported.

Scientists from Russia's Arctic Agriculture and Ecology Institute have warned that construction work would put employees and wild animals at risk of picking up the disease, Greenpeace said.

Experts from Vladivostok's Maritime University also reported that tens of kilometers of coastline could be contaminated in the event of an oil spill, including land protected by Russian law.

The oil depot in the Baikal district will allow year-round export of 5 million tons of crude oil from Russia, taigo.info reported.

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