Environmentalists: Impact of Black Sea oil spill to last decades

Nov 13, 2007, 12:51 GMT

Kiev - Environmentalists in Russia and Ukraine predict that the ecological impact of a recent oil spill in the Black Sea will last decades, the Interfax news agency reported.

Some 2,000 tons of heating oil spilled into the Kerch Strait dividing the two former Soviet republics on Sunday, after a tanker sank in severe weather.

'The clean-up of the water is going to take six months, and a complete clean-up of the coastal areas is going to take decades,' environmentalist Aleksander Minin said in a teleconference.

Much of the water in the Black Sea, generally at depths below 200 metres, will not support life due to high concentrations of hydrogen sulphide, and low levels of oxygen.

Were the oil to sink to the depth of the sulphur-rich water in the Black Sea, it could remain there almost indefinitely until returned to the surface or land by currents, Minin said.

'Some of these petroleum products can sink to levels in the water, particularly those without oxygen, and they will not dissolve, and just stay there for dozens of years,' he explained.

Dozens of kilometres of sea shore have or soon will be polluted as a result of the spill, said Sergei Golubchikov, an environmental scientist.

The largest portion of the oil slick at last report was in the middle of the strait and drifting slowly towards the Russian shoreline.

Russian marines and civilian workers fielded by both the Russian and Ukrainian governments were continuing clean-up efforts, and rescue teams on Tuesday morning resumed search efforts for sailors still missing as a result of the storm.

The gale struck the Kerch Strait with 100 kilometre per hour winds, sinking four ships, driving another four, and sending 15 more vessels aground.

Skies were clearing but winds were still gusting and seas remained rough on Tuesday, hampering both the search and clean-up efforts.

All helicopters were grounded and the only search and rescue efforts on the Ukrainian side were being performed by vehicles driving along the beach, said Nestor Shufrich, Ukraine Emergency Situations Minister, according to a Channel 5 television news report.

Clean up crews had removed some 200 tonnes of oil from the water by midday Tuesday, according to Interfax.

Russian officials heading up the clean-up estimated the size of the slick on Tuesday at some 1,200 tonnes of oil, implying that around 600 tonnes of oil had been dissolved in sea water, sunk from view, or been cast up on shore.

A major shipping throughway, the Sea of Azov also is a popular summer resort area with sand, gravel, and pebble beaches.

The clean-up of soiled beaches in time for next year's beach season was 'difficult but possible', Minin said.

Rain and continued poor weather conditions were probable up to the weekend, according to a statement by Ukraine's National Meteorological Service.