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.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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