Signs in the sand: fuel oil in Krasnodar Krai may reach the beaches of Gelendzhik
Experts interviewed by Izvestiya believe that thefuel oil spilled due to the crash of two tankers in the Kerch Strait may reach the coasts of Novorossiysk and Gelendzhik. Now the main pollution is recorded near Anapa, but its zone may increase. According to satellite data, about 3 thousand tons of oil products have fallen into the water area. The monitoring zone of the coast is already 70 km, the consequences of the emergency are liquidated by several thousand people - employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and volunteers. About how long the liquidation will last and why clots of fuel oil can remain in the sand on the shore and bottom sediments for years - in the material "Izvestia".
Who and how cleans the coast
The zone of fuel oil pollution after the wreck of tankers in the Kerch Strait off the coast of Krasnodar Krai reaches almost 50 km, while the monitoring zone is 70 km, reported the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The tankers Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 carrying fuel oil crashed on December 15 in the southern part of the strait - as a result, the tanks with cargo were damaged and the oil fell into the Black Sea.
According to satellite data, about 3,000 tons of fuel oil ended up in the water area, Sergei Alemov, a leading researcher of the chemoecology laboratory of the Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of the Russian Academy of Sciences, reminded Izvestia.
The stricken tanker
Part of the leaked oil spreads on the surface and already gets on the beaches, so pollution of the coastline is one of the main factors of damage, he said.
- The main pollution is near Anapa," the scientist said. - There is a probability that the slicks will reach Novorossiysk and Gelendzhik. On the shores of the fuel oil must be removed, in the coastal zone in this will help booms (floating barriers that serve to limit the spread of something on the surface of the water. - Ed.).
According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, now several thousand rescuers and volunteers are involved in the elimination of pollution: people from all over Kuban and residents of other regions are coming to the place. They put up booms and, armed with shovels, bags, respirators and gloves, clean the beaches. Rescuers and volunteers collected almost 100 tons of oil products, cleaned more than 10 kilometers of the Black Sea coast, - said in the message of the department.
About 300 tons of oil products and contaminated sand were removed from the central beach of Vityazevo village, Anapa City Hall said. For this purpose 15 dump trucks were involved. Collected fuel oil will be delivered to specialized processing in the farm Bely, added the city administration.
- Cleaning works will be carried out at night, for this purpose 65 light towers have already been prepared, - reported in the operative staff of Krasnodar region.
Along the coast opened volunteer headquarters, which comb the beaches in search of animals in need of help. They are taken to the rescue point, which was deployed on the basis of the volunteer headquarters in Vityazevo.
- We have two veterinarians at the headquarters," Evgeny Vitishko, head of the working group on ecology of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights under the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory, told Izvestia. - Not only our volunteers bring birds here, but also other volunteers. We wash the birds for 40 minutes, examine them, warm them up and send them to a rehabilitation center in Krasnodar or Sevastopol.
Owners of car washes actively help in saving animals - they allowed to use their premises. As Evgeny Vitishko noted, now the zone of oil product spreading is smaller than it was in 2007 in a similar emergency in the Kerch Strait - then five ships sank, 3 thousand tons of fuel oil and about 7 thousand tons of technical sulfur ended up in the sea.
Roman Pukalov, director of environmental programs of the all-Russian public organization "Green Patrol" agrees with him.
- Now the tanker crash and oil product spill occurred in mid-December, not in November, as it was in 2007, when there were much more birds," he explained.
The expert recommended that volunteers take breaks and stay "in the field" for no more than two hours.
- Deterioration of health, loss of consciousness due to poisoning by the specific odor of petroleum products is not uncommon in such conditions," he added.
How long will the pollution be eliminated
Roman Pukalov believes that itwill take more than one month to eliminate the consequences of pollution on the shore.
- It's not a quick job," he said. - A year after the crash in 2007, clots of fuel oil were still being found.
To completely eliminate pollution from the beaches, it is necessary to assess the thickness of sand, take and analyze samples of sedimentary rock, said Dmitry Fedorov, director of the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization "Green Civilization. He warned that due to high waves, individual clumps of fuel oil can mix with sand and form layer-by-layer deposits.
- It is necessary to bring to these beaches heavy machinery, excavators, front loaders, and where there will be areas of contaminated sand, to dig out clumps of fuel oil and take them to specially prepared places,- explained the ecologist.
As noted by leading researcher of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences Philip Sapozhnikov, away from the coast storm waves break fuel oil into small spots and individual particles. Therefore, oil products do not form a solid barrier on the way of sun rays, so the situation for surface phytoplankton is not as fatal as it could be in calm conditions.
The specialist assured that in such a situation deep-sea inhabitants die only partially, as oil products settle on the bottom not in a continuous rain, but fragmentarily. This allows nature to stabilize the situation after some time.
- In the process of "liquidation" of the consequences of the spill, some bacteria participate, which absorb oil products, releasing harmless substances, - explained the scientist. - In addition, there is photo-oxidation of fuel oil particles by solar ultraviolet light. A significant part of oil products is carried away to the central part of the sea, where they gradually sink to the depth, go into the hydrogen sulfide layer and no longer threaten shallow waters and shores.
At the same time, he added, studies in 2007-2008, conducted after the wreck of tankers, showed that part of the fuel oil, which settles at shallow depths, remains in the bottom sediments, but strong storms wash out the oil products. Thus, the consequences of the disaster may be felt for several years, said Filipp Sapozhnikov.
