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- Water shocks: the Emergency Situations Ministry warned of the threat of continued fuel oil leakage in the Black Sea
Water shocks: the Emergency Situations Ministry warned of the threat of continued fuel oil leakage in the Black Sea
Rescuers will work all holiday weekend to eliminate the consequences of fuel oil pollution, which occurred due to the accident of two tankers in the Kerch Strait, promised the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Alexander Kurenkov. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the situation in the Krasnodar region critical. In addition, the emergency regime of regional character was introduced in the Crimea because of the consequences of the spillage of petroleum products. On what measures are being taken on the eve of the New Year - in the material "Izvestia".
Elimination of consequences
It is necessary to accelerate the work to eliminate the consequences of the spill of fuel oil in the Kerch Strait after the crash of two tankers - with such a requirement at a meeting of the Government Commission on the prevention and elimination of emergency situations and fire safety was made by the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Alexander Kurenkov. On December 28, at its first meeting after the announcement of the emergency regime of the federal level , Deputy Minister of Transport Alexander Poshivay said that by February 16, 2025, documentation for the lifting of the affected vessels will be developed, work will begin by March 16, and the complex of works will be completed by June 16.
But Alexander Kurenkov was dissatisfied with these deadlines.
- It's a long time, until February 16! It is not necessary to drag it out to two months. Adjust the terms, how it can be accelerated, and report the result. If there are not enough people, funds, specialists, tell us about it," he demanded.
Tankers "Volgoneft-212" and "Volgoneft-239" on December 15 crashed in the Kerch Strait, fuel oil from the ships got into the Black Sea, causing pollution of the water area and the coast. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the incident an "ecological disaster" during a direct line on December 19. December 26, the Krasnodar region introduced a federal level emergency regime.
The head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations warned at the meeting that the threat of fuel oil leakage from the affected tankers into the Black Sea remains, and said that the work to eliminate the consequences of the oil spill will continue during the holidays.
- The coastal component is absolutely tangible, palpable, we hold it in our hands. Everything about the water component is a complete fog. We are trying to make some conclusions, forecast whether there will be new emissions, but everything is blurred, we would like some specificity and more discipline, - said Alexander Kurenkov.
Since the Volgoneft tanker accident, more than 380.3 square kilometers of water area have been surveyed, 29.4 thousand square meters have been cleaned, the Ministry of Transport reported. Now, according to the agency, 25 tons of oil-water mixture has been collected.
On Friday, a unit for pumping oil products from sunken ships was brought to Novorossiysk, the equipment was tested on December 28 and it is planned to be delivered by sea to the accident site in the near future, the ministry added.
"Over the past day, new fuel oil stains were found in the area of the Anapka River, they were removed by hand. Also, additional booms were installed here to prevent oil products from reaching the river mouth," the ministry said.
In addition, around the stern part of the tanker, which ran aground near the village of Taman, Morspassluzhba installed 250 meters of barriers. Contaminated soil began to be taken to the temporary storage site in the farm Voskresensky Anapa, it can take about 200 thousand tons of sand with fuel oil, added in the operative staff. And on the Central beach of Anapa a special ditch is being formed.
"The moat will go from the Medical beach in the area of the Seaport in the direction of Vityazevo. In total it is planned to dig 1200 meters," reported the mayor's office of Anapa. - A storm is expected from December 31 to January 2. The trenches will protect the main part of the beach from new releases of fuel oil. This will save the labor of people involved in cleaning the coastal area from oil products".
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the situation in the Krasnodar region "really critical" on Saturday, December 28. According to him, it is impossible to calculate the full extent of damage to the environment now.
- Unfortunately, negative consequences in terms of ecology are inevitable. This now requires maximum vigorous efforts on the part of a number of agencies," he said.
What measures do scientists recommend
Emergency regime of regional character was introduced in Crimea on December 28, the corresponding order was given by the head of the Republic Sergey Aksyonov.
"It was decided to attribute the current situation associated with oil pollution of the water protection zone of the Black Sea within the boundaries of the municipalities of the Kerch urban district and Leninsky district to a man-made emergency of regional character," - stated in the decree of the head of the region.
According to Roman Pukalov, the director of environmental programs of the all-Russian public organization "Green Patrol", there are certainly problems in Crimea, but the volume is not the same as in Krasnodar Krai.
- Crimea has not been affected as much," says the ecologist.
The day before, Gennady Matishov, deputy president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, head of the Oceanology and Geography Department of the Southern Scientific Center (UNC) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in an open letter about oil pollution that targeted federal funding should be opened for oil spill cleanup.
"We cannot do without conducting a geo-ecological survey off the coast of the Caucasus in a short period of time," he wrote. - Sources of fuel oil must be localized at any cost, otherwise more and more tanker cargo will be dumped on the already cleaned coasts. In any case, we need monitoring of storm (re)pollution of the coastline."
He urged the authorities to oblige specialists from RAS institutes, as well as employees of organizations engaged in coastal protection, to participate in eliminating the consequences of the spill.
- They could take over the observation of lithodynamics (movement of solid matter. - Ed.) of the coastline, including pollution," he suggested. - By the way, the participants of this hard work could make their task easier by referring to the already existing experience.
The academician reminded that a similar catastrophe had already occurred in the Kerch Strait area. On November 11, 2007, 13 ships were wrecked there and along the Black Sea coast from Novorossiysk to Sevastopol in a strong storm. One of them, the tanker Volgoneft-139, broke into two parts and 1-1.2 thousand tons of fuel oil spilled into the water area. Eight ecological expeditions of the UNC RAS were conducted to assess the situation.
Can volunteers work
The participation of volunteers in the liquidation of the consequences of emergency situations is not fully regulated by modern legislation, complained lawyer Vladimir Shelupakhin. Thus, according to the methodological materials of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, it is not recommended to allow volunteers to work in high-risk areas, requiring special professional training, without instruction in occupational safety and personal protective equipment.
- In order to prevent any accidents, the actions of volunteers should be controlled by professionals," the lawyer said.
The decision to involve volunteers in the work on liquidation of fuel oil spill should be made by the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, explained the lawyer of Lobutev & Partners Anna Malafeeva.
- The procedure of actions of the volunteer association personnel when receiving signals of emergency is developed in coordination with the management bodies of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, - said the lawyer.
According to Roman Pukalov, who has just returned from Krasnodar Krai, initially the volunteers gathered spontaneously, nobody controlled them, and only a few days later Anapa Mayor's Office took the volunteer headquarters "under its wing".
- At each site there are rescuers, military personnel, supervisors. They try to control the volunteers. Now, as far as I know, you even have to fill out a questionnaire with your data so that the administration keeps records," says the ecologist.
The danger does not frighten the volunteers; even after the introduction of the federal emergency regime, the volunteers continue to come to help clean up the consequences of the oil spill, Polina Omelchenko, coordinator of the central volunteer headquarters, told Izvestia.
- We have a huge number of people willing to help us in various ways. Guys who are under 18 come, but only adults are allowed to work to eliminate the emergency," the coordinator added. - Volunteers independently decide when and how much they help. Some people can work for only two hours, while others work all day long.
Despite the approaching holidays, the mood of the staff is working, adds Pavel Tychinkin, head of the media center of the Krasnodar Region's operational headquarters for emergency response. According to him, now the volunteers have the task to clean the beach as quickly as possible, and this is what they are going to do on New Year's weekend.
