Black wave: fuel oil pollution may reach Bulgaria and Turkey

New powerful fuel oil emissions have been detected on the coast of Krasnodar Krai - environmentalists interviewed by Izvestiya compare the volume of new pollution with the one that occurred after the accident of two tankers in the Kerch Strait. They note that if the situation continues to develop like this, the pollution may reach the shores of Bulgaria and Turkey. In Kuban there is a federal emergency regime, which implies the involvement of additional forces and funds to eliminate the consequences. But a month after its introduction, volunteers, including the Unified Volunteer Headquarters in Anapa, began to complain about the lack of equipment, protective clothing and food. On what stage now the cleaning of the Black Sea coast, - in the material "Izvestia".

Repeated emissions of fuel oil

Emissions of oil products of varying intensity found on Tuesday, February 4, on the beaches in several districts of the Krasnodar region, reported in the Operational headquarters of the region.

"In the territories assigned to municipalities, oil products on the shoreline near the water were confirmed by teams from Uspensky, Belorechensky, Mostovsky, Labinsky, Timashevsky, Pavlovsky, Apsheronsky, Abinsky, Starominsky, Slavyansky and Tikhoretsky districts," the report said.

Vladimir Kalyaev, the head of Skoltech's development project group, who is involved in dealing with the aftermath of the accident, told Izvestia that the scale of re-emissions during the storm at a number of sites is comparable to the level of emissions we saw in early January.

- Emissions are very serious, coming not only in small fragments, but also large chunks of the order of 30 centimeters. This is due to the slightly changed direction of the storm, which lifted fuel oil that was not affected by previous storms. Most of the fuel oil fragments are mixed with algae, from which we can conclude that they spent considerable time in the near-bottom area," said Vladimir Kalyaev.

At the same time, the protection system of nets and berms installed by the official services successfully enough detained the fuel oil in the coastal zone, preventing it from reaching the main body of the beach, the specialist added.

Repeated releases are the spreading of the initial oil product release, which will take place over several months, said ecologist Vladislav Zhukov.

- The coast has already taken the main blow in the form of spilled oil product. If we talk about eliminating the emission of the smallest drops of fuel oil, it will take a very long time, several years for sure, - said the ecologist.

Oil products, which spilled out as early as December 15, float in the Black Sea and land on the shore because of winds and currents, said Roman Pukalov, director of environmental programs of the all-Russian public organization "Green Patrol". According to his assessment, the situation may aggravate when the Volgoneft-212 tanker is lifted.

- There is a huge amount of oil product left in the tanker, and if there are leaks from there, the situation will be aggravated. Fuel oil is rotating in the Black Sea counterclockwise, i.e. from Anapa to Crimea. It is possible to get further traces of fuel oil on the beach of Bulgaria, further to Turkey. There is a probability of these events, - said the ecologist.

How the sea shore is cleaned

As of February 4, more than 7 thousand square kilometers of the Black Sea water area has been surveyed since the accident of the tanker "Volgoneft", more than 52 thousand square meters have been treated with sorbent, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations reported. Now, according to the agency, more than 178 thousand tons of contaminated sand and soil have been collected. Divers are collecting oil products in the area of Vityazevo pier, said the regional operative headquarters.

- Divers work at a depth of about 8 meters, there they collect oil products settled on the bottom in bags. When a sufficiently large batch is formed, the bags are lifted to a special raft with the help of a cable. Everything collected is transported to the shore, reloaded into the bucket of the excavator and removed from the beach, - explained there.

In Krasnodar region more than 177 thousand tons of contaminated sand and soil have been removed from the coastline, in Crimea - more than 685 tons, in Sevastopol - 620 tons.

In addition, the stern of the tanker "Volgoneft-239" that ran aground is being dismantled, the Operational Headquarters of the Krasnodar Region added. The largest parts are additionally cut to be loaded into dump trucks and removed from the shoreline.

Rospotrebnadzor has initiated research work to assess the risk and prevent negative impact on public health after the oil spill, the agency said on Tuesday, February 4.

The scientific community will have to determine the chemical composition of contaminants in sandy soil, water and air in the area of the spill, study and predict the transformation of fuel oil components in sea water and coastal sand, as well as assess the safety of sea water and soil in recreational areas, Rospotrebnadzor explained.

There are not enough volunteers

Now for cleaning the Black Sea coast lacks both volunteers and specialized equipment, complained "Izvestia" coordinator of the main warehouse of the Central Unified Volunteer Headquarters Irina Ivanchenko.

- There are not enough volunteers - this is the first problem. The second - there is not enough equipment to remove fuel oil from the shore. Thirdly, food is also in short supply, - Irina Ivanchenko shares. - People send humanitarian aid, the authorities and parties help. But there is always a shortage, because we do not know what flow of volunteers we will have.

In addition, there is a lack of warm clothes for volunteers, she added. We are talking about thermal underwear, jackets and hats.

Cleanup volunteers working on Bugazskaya Kos in Krasnodar Krai also said that they need equipment and people.

- There is a lack of mobile transportation that can move on the sand. For example, when I take people out, I need to take 15 people 10 kilometers away from the headquarters," volunteer Roman Morra told Izvestia. - For this purpose we were previously allocated a truck Ural-4320 and KamAZ, they can transport 30 people at a time. Now I am looking for, asking for an off-road vehicle that can transport a mobile group. Ideally it's a pickup truck, because it can carry 10 people.

Roman believes that the flow of volunteers could increase if they were reimbursed for traveling to Anapa.

- Or we could create a regular shuttle service from Moscow to the Krasnodar region," he added. - Such transportation at least once a month would make the situation less acute.

The Governor of the Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratiev, in his Telegram channel began posting stories of volunteers who come to Anapa. Some are not the first time. In particular, on Tuesday the head of the region published information about Anna Tyutyunnik from Timashevsk, who has collected oiled soil in Anapa twice already, and thanked all the volunteers who found time and came to the coast.