The oil spill caused by the sinking of two Russian tankers in mid-December in the waters between Russia and annexed Crimea continues to spread, with pollution found on more shores, authorities said today.
On December 15, two Russian tankers, Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, sank during a storm in the Kerch Strait. The ships carried 9,200 tons of fuel oil. 40% leaked into the sea, according to Russian authorities.
Two Russian Oil Tankers Sink in Black Sea
A powerful storm in the Black Sea has caused two Russian oil tankers, Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, to sink or be on the verge of sinking near the Kerch Strait.…
— ~ Anonymous ~ 🇵🇸 (@TheStripesGirl)
On December 26, the Russian authorities declared a state of emergency at the federal level, due to the oil spill.
Thousands of volunteers have been mobilized to tackle fuel oil pollution of south-west Russia’s tourist beaches, but scientists say their equipment is inadequate.
“Two oil-contaminated sites have been identified in Crimea,” the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, the Russian Emergencies Ministry announced today.
These locations are near the beach in the city of Kerch and, further south, near Lake Tombetsiskoye, according to the ministry.
Nearly 73,000 tons of contaminated sand have been removed from dozens of kilometers of beaches on the Russian coast since fuel oil began leaking into the sea from the sinking of the tankers, but in total, about 200,000 tons of soil may have been contaminated, according to authorities.
Serious problems are also recorded in marine fauna, such as seabirds, dolphins and other cetaceans.
The regional clean-up organization released images of volunteers in white overalls removing contaminated sand using shovels, including in the popular tourist destination of Anapa.
Tons of fuel oil thrown into the sea during the wreck of Russian tankers, reached the shores of Russia’s Krasnodar region, the plume stretched for 55 km, Russian Telegram channels write.
It is reported that the beaches of Anapa may become unsuitable for human habitation for…
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en)
In December, scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences criticized the authorities’ response to the environmental disaster, saying volunteers were not equipped to deal with such a disaster.
The president acknowledged last month that the oil spill had caused an “ecological disaster” and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that the extent of the environmental damage was “currently impossible to estimate.”
RES-EMP
