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- Clean up the slicks: how the oil spill in the Black and Azov Seas is being cleaned up
Clean up the slicks: how the oil spill in the Black and Azov Seas is being cleaned up
Oil products after the crash of two tankers in the Kerch Strait washed ashore in the Krasnodar Region, local authorities said. Over the past two days, fuel oil has covered several dozen kilometers, residents of coastal villages complain of the smell of oil. In several districts of the region on December 17 declared a state of emergency of a municipal nature. On how to eliminate the consequences of the spill and how great the real threat to the ecology of the region - in the material "Izvestia".
Where the oil spread
Stains of fuel oil after the accident of tankers in the Kerch Strait found on the coastline in the Krasnodar region. Oil products were carried to the shore for several tens of kilometers. This was reported in his Telegram-channel by the Governor of the Krasnodar region Veniamin Kondratiev.
"At the moment, the accumulation of oil products is concentrated in three places - on the coastlines of the settlements of Veselovka and Vityazevo, as well as the village of Blagoveshchenskaya," he wrote.
On December 15, tankers Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 suffered a disaster in the Kerch Strait due to bad weather. In the area of the accident there was a strong squally wind and sea excitement up to 7 points. As a result of the wreck there was a spill of oil products. The tankers ran aground.
13 people were evacuated from the first vessel: one of them was killed, 11 were injured. All 14 crew members were evacuated from the second tanker on December 16. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiated criminal proceedings on violation of the rules of traffic safety and operation of transportation.
Volgoneft-239 tanker aground
The third tanker from the series "Volgoneft", but already under the number 109, carrying fuel oil, at night gave a distress signal. The captain reported a breach of tightness. On Tuesday, December 17, the vessel moved to another place of anchorage, the leakage of fuel oil was not allowed, Rosmorrechflot told Izvestia.
"The hull of the vessel is not damaged, there is no leakage. The crew is safe. Accompanied by the rescue vessel Morspassluzhba Mercury, the vessel moved to another place of anchorage," the Federal Agency of Maritime and River Transport said in a statement.
In Zaporozhsky, Novotamansky, Tamansky and Sennoye rural settlements of Temryuksky district, as well as in the village of Blagoveshchenskaya in Anapa due to the ingress of oil products on the shore introduced emergency mode of municipal nature, said the regional operative staff.
Employees of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources recorded pollution of the coastline in the Krasnodar Territory from the village of Veselovka to the village of Blagoveshchenskaya. This was reported by the head of the agency Svetlana Radionova, commenting on the situation with the oil spill in the Black Sea.
- Cleaning of oil spills is carried out by the forces of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and regional subdivisions. Rosprirodnadzor is monitoring the completeness and sufficiency of measures taken for further calculation of damage, - she added.
How the consequences are being eliminated
Operational headquarters are deployed at the site. Rescuers, volunteers from among local residents, Cossacks of the Kuban army are engaged in liquidation of consequences. More than 400 people and 65 units of equipment are working from operational services. The main task is to remove fuel oil thrown ashore as much as possible. The algorithm of its utilization has already been determined and worked out, assured the head of the region.
- The whole affected coastal zone has been divided into sectors, each sector has been assigned to a responsible person, they will monitor the situation. If oil products are found in new centers - we will expand the grouping, - emphasized Veniamin Kondratyev.
Only in the village of Veselovka, Temryuksky district, according to him, about 400 bags of contaminated soil have been collected.
- On this beach the pollution is relatively small, the spots are small, but scattered along the coastline. They are collected in bags for further disposal," he explained.
Rescuers of the Azov-Black Sea branch of the Marine Rescue Service collected almost a ton of oiled soil on the shore, reported in the Telegram-channel of the service.
"To protect the estuary in the area of the beach Blagoveshchenskaya from pollution by oil products it is planned to install booms 150-200 m in the area of Bugazskaya spit in the shortest possible time", - explained there.
In total, 12.6 tons of contaminated sand were removed from the beaches in Anapa and Temryuksky district, as reported in the operational headquarters of the region. During the day, volunteers and rescuers cleared the coastline for 4.2 kilometers, according to the data of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Krasnodar Territory.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on the instructions of President Vladimir Putin created a working group to coordinate the work to eliminate the consequences of the accident with tankers in the Kerch Strait.
Russian Natural Resources and Environment Minister Alexander Kozlov said that it was too early to say how much oil products had fallen into the sea after the crash of the Russian tankers. According to him, the Maritime Rescue Service is preparing divers who will examine the remains of the vessels and give their conclusion. He said that patrolling will be organized not only of the water surface, but also of the coastal strip in order to react immediately in case of oil stains.
What are the risks for ecology
Local residents have already come to the aid of volunteers.
- It's an ecological disaster here. They took shovels and bags and came here to help. The situation is terrible, - says one of them, who came here from neighboring Vityazevo. - There is more oil in Blagoveshchenskoye, towards Anapa - animals have died. There are no words for these tankers - how could they even be released into the sea! We will clean up something here, but we need a lot of volunteers, a lot of work. There has never been such a big spill here - there were some spots before, but lately it has been clean.
Residents spread in messengers instructions on how to wash the bird from fuel oil.
"Immediately tape the beak, otherwise the bird, trying to wash off the oil, will stick it on and intoxication will go. How to wash it off? Wash off animals very easily and quickly! In this case, we will help "Fae" and potato starch. It's a matter of active work of your hands and 30 minutes of your time", - the volunteers advise.
Andrey Adrianov, member of the Board of Trustees of the Compass Foundation, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, confirmed that oil products are dangerous for birds and mammals.
- When oil spills on the surface, it is very dangerous. While the slick has not spilled into a thin film, it is dense - it gets on the feather cover of birds, wool of marine mammals, which can cause their death,- explained the academician. - If it is fuel oil, it will quickly settle to the bottom. There is nothing good in it either. This is a shallow water area (Kerch Strait and the Azov Sea). When the depth is large, the fuel oil settles little by little, it is less dangerous.
If the slick is broken into small fragments, it slightly reduces the direct negative impact, the scientist added. There are technologies that allow collecting an oil slick: it is fenced off and collected using sorbents, emphasized Andrei Adrianov.
Some residents have already reported about dead small dolphins found on the shore. People also complain about the nauseating smell of oil. It is still not worth being at sea without protective equipment - from contact with water shoes, clothes and skin are covered with a thin black film, worsening health.
It is extremely important to know the grade of the spilled fuel oil. If it is viscous and dense, it threatens mainly benthic animals and plants, Roman Pukalov, director of environmental programs of the all-Russian public organization Green Patrol, told Izvestia.
- But if the fuel oil is of medium viscosity and density, with water heating up in July-August, we can expect secondary contamination of the surface," the ecologist noted. - And then, in addition, many more birds will die from floating fuel oil.
In Russia, there is a well-tested technology for dealing with such pollution, said Vladimir Pinaev, PhD in Economics, Associate Professor at the Institute of Ecology of PFUR. If oil products have risen to the surface and formed a film, and the sea is calm or there is a small wave, it is quite possible to deal with surface pollution, says the expert.
