Russia-Appointed Officials in Crimea Declare Emergency as Oil Spill Reaches Sevastopol
Russia-appointed officials in Moscow-occupied Crimea announced a regional emergency on Saturday, as oil was detected on the shores of Sevastopol, the peninsula’s largest city.
Fuel oil spilled out of two storm-stricken tankers nearly three weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, close to eastern Crimea - some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from Sevastopol, which lies on the southwest of the peninsula.
(Map courtesy of Global News)
More than 86,000 tons of contaminated sand and soil have been removed along the region’s shoreline since the original spill. Up to 200,000 tons in total may have been contaminated with mazut, a heavy, low-quality oil product.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the oil spill an “ecological disaster.”
Rescuers and volunteers work to clean up tons of fuel oil that spilled out of two storm-stricken tankers more than two weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, in Russia's southern Krasnodar region. (Photo: Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)
Water pollution, the war, and fishing have been killing dolphins in the Black Sea for some time now and this spill won't help the poor creatures at all.
Sources:
https://www.washingtontimes.com/multimedia/image/ap-russia-oil-spill-88871-jpg/
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221222-how-the-war-in-ukraine-is-killing-marine-mammals
https://inf.news/en/animal/6848e299d25bc0eedde64f94646465aa.html