When a 28 -year -old volunteer named Nikolai stepped into a beach on the Black Sea coast of Russia just before the large year day, he overwhelmed the amount of almost broken thick oil film. It was done.
He and his other volunteers were on the mission of shaving the dyed sand, but he said, “The scale is too big.”
Two weeks after the New Year, four weeks after the outflow, President Vladimir V. Putin dispatched the scope of disasters and dispatched high -ranking officials to deal with Russia's largest oil flow over many years.
The oil was released on December 15 by two aging Russian tankers damaged during the intense storm in the Kelch Strait. Russian officials said at least 2,400 tons of petroleum of oil.
The strait disaster, which separates the Crimea from Russia, questioned whether the ship is part of the so -called shadow fleet used to avoid the oil industry sanctions.
One of the ships, Volgoneft-212, was divided into half and sank, killing one crew. The other, Volgoneft-239 stranded near Taman Port. The two ships are equipped with a total of 9,000 tons of heavy fuel oil, and authorities are now trying to keep the coast clean, but also contain additional outflows from running ships.
Russian officials originally argued that the outflow had been contained, but immediately after the disaster, witnesses floating oil and turret birds along the Russian Black Sea coast.
On Sunday, the government said that it was assigned 1.5 billion rubles (about $ 15.3 million) to cleaning efforts and brought money out of the reserves. Three days ago, Putin ordered a report on the conditions of the Russian tanker fleet, and also examined the Russian law that covers the sea and river oil cargo by the Deputy Prime Minister, and said, “Scientific progress in cleaning similar disasters. , “His press conference said.
Last week, the Ukrainian Navy warned that oil from the leak could reach the Black Sea coast of Ukraine near Odesa and Micolaf, but the Ministry of Environment in Ukraine stated that there was no immediate threat one day later. Ta.
Nikolai was among hundreds of volunteers and helped to clean up. As an entrepreneur of Moscow, he saw photos and videos posted by local residents and officials, and traveled to Anapa, a resort town as the New Year approached.
In an interview with the New York Times after returning home, he said he had spent a week to take off the oil he had washed on the coast. He was afraid that he might lose in a state contract, so he asked him not to use his surname.
Individuals and companies took chips to provide some dangerous goods suits and basic equipment to some volunteers, but tasks were difficult.
“I was looking at the photos before we arrived,” Nikolai said. “Yes, it looks bad -but when you see it in your actual life, it is different. When you take a shovel and scoop the black lumps, it feels like it falls into the sea. “
Nikolai felt that the air along the coast was very heavy, so after walking without a respiratory organs, he felt dizzy and weak.
The clean -up team is compatible with oil flowing along the 500 -miles of coastline, collecting polluted sand and soil with more than 160,000 tons and 25 tons of “liquid containing petroleum”. The Ministry of Finance said this week.
However, according to Green Piece Ukraine, there is a risk that leakage will be a “long -term environmental disaster.”
Environmental protectionists say that it is especially difficult to clean the leaks for tanker cargo. Unlike normal normal oil, heavy fuel oil does not stop on the surface of the water, but instead sinks to the bottom.
“If it is not quickly removed from the surface, it is necessary to wait until it is broken down by marine microorganisms,” said Natalia Gozak, a green peas wakliner officer. “This can take decades.”
Immediate reaction means that it is necessary to scoop a large amount of contaminated sand, and it essentially shoots a part of the beach around Anapa, independent Russian environmental protection and water sentence. According to Georgy Kavanosyan, a geologist.
“Because there was no sufficient response, the oil began to sink into the sand for the first few days,” said Kabanosian.
The satellite image issued by Kabanosian shows two slender dyeing near the tanker, running, and shows that new oils have leaked after two minor earthquakes in the weekend.
“The ship is a bomb every moment,” he said. “The most important thing now is to draw out the oil and extract the ship.”
Authorities reported that most oils were collected from the outflow last Monday.
When Putin finally talked about the disaster, he explained it as “one of the most serious environmental issues we have been facing in recent years.”
Putin ordered a senior official dispatched to supervise his efforts. With the taskforce established this month, several ministers planned to clean and rebuild and delete tankers.
The long -term effect of oil flow on wildlife has not yet been seen.
At least 58 dead dolphins have been discovered, Delfa Dolphin Rescue and Research Center stated in a Saturday statement. The group sent the team to the sea last Friday, arrived at the sinking tanker, and confirmed that the oil was still penetrating from there.
“The pollution was along the entire route,” he said. “Only 5 kilometers from the coast, general bottle Northlooka and the rat at the port were swimming with small fragments of oil film and fuel oil.
An expert said that at least 6,000 oiled birds were caught by volunteers, but they rarely survive. According to Green Piece Ukraine, leakage is likely to kill tens of thousands of local birds.
Russian oil companies are increasingly focusing on the use of aging tankers that are not regulated by Western companies or have not taken in insurance.
Ukraine's President Volodimiazerensky and other Ukraine officials suggest that two 50 -year -old tankers are part of the Russian shadow fleet.
However, Elizabeth Brau, the Atlantic Council Senior Fellow, wrote some articles about the Shadow Fleet, but the ship is a rattling old tanker, which lacks some characteristics of the Shadow Fleet. , Usually operates in the Baltic Sea and sails. Flag of other countries.
Both of the tankers involved in the outflow were owned by Russia, one of which had a resignment, and according to the state -owned RIA Novosti News Agency, navigation should not be allowed.
The question was also questioned why a tanker originally built for the river voyage was allowed in the winter stormy sea in the first place.
Cassandra vinograph Contributed from Ukraine's Kiev.
