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Russian Oil Spill Devastates Black Sea Ecology
By Ivan Velinov
Epoch Times San Francisco Staff Nov 14, 2007

http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-11-14/61936.html

A poisoned and oil covered bird lies dying in front of local volunteers removing oil pollution from the Black Sea shore in the port Kavkaz, November 13, 2007. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images)

Strong winds and waves battered more than 10 cargo ships last Sunday in the Kerch Strait waters of the Black Sea between Russia and the Ukraine. Four ships sank, one split in two, and another ran aground spilling thousands of tons of oil and sulfur in what could be Russia's worst environmental disaster in the last decade, say experts.

The fierce storm raged in the small waterway between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Surging waves as high as 16 feet smashed apart the Russian oil tanker "Volganeft–139" and spilled into the sea nearly half of the cargo of the freight ship laden with 4,800 tons (1.3 million gallons) of oil. Three other freight ships loaded with sulfur containers also sank, sending about 7,000 tons of sulfur into the sea. After the sea became calm again and the strong winds subdued on Monday, the rescuers found the bodies of three sailors and continued emergency rescue efforts on Tuesday. They found another five sailors who had been missing from one of the four cargo ships that sank during the storm. Chances grew smaller of finding missing crew members alive due to severe cold weather.

On shore, thousands of wetland birds flopped their oil-soaked wings helplessly and huddled together unable to stand, only to be swept over by oncoming waves near Port Kavkaz. Russian's second biggest port for oil and oil products at the Black Sea is located at this port. At least 30,000 birds were killed by the oil slick that stretched 12 miles in the sea.

When birds encounter fuel oil on the surface of the water, the oil sticks to their feathers exposing the animal's skin to extremes in temperature. The birds try to get the oil off their feathers by preening which results in ingesting the oil. And the fish die when oil enters their gills.

A spokesperson for a local administration responsible for handling environmental accidents told the Russian news agency Novosti on Monday that according to the latest information; about 30,000 dead birds have washed up along the shores of the Russian southern Krasnodar territory. Nearly the same number of birds is coated in oil, which means that they will die too.

Wetland birds fly from Siberia into the Black Sea where they search for food and warm weather to survive the harsh winter. The areas affected by pollution are in the heart of a migratory route of red-neck and black-neck Siberian diver's birds. The loss of fish and marine life is impossible to count, the spokesperson said.

Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of Russia's environmental watchdog agency, told the Russian media that the oil and sulfur pollution creates a serious environmental catastrophe in the region, and that the spill could take years to fix.

Greenpeace environmentalists called for a high alert, telling officials that the oil that began to wash against the shores of Russia and Ukraine threatens to destroy rare marine life.

"Heavy elements of fuel oil will settle on the seabed," Vladimir Chuprov of Greenpeace told Novosti. "This will lead to a shortage of oxygen in the water, and the unique fauna will suffer greatly."

The Russian emergency ministry announced the launch of a major rescue operation in the Black Sea strait. As of Tuesday, hundreds of workers shoveled up about 1.5 tons of the massive oil clumps mixed with seaweed, sand, and dead birds in an effort to clean up the shore.

Greenpeace activists suggested that the sulfur spill of the sunken ships is less detrimental to the environment. Alexey Kisely, of the Greenpeace toxic division, said that the sulfur spill is in cargo containers and could be easily lifted off the seabed. However, an expert and academician from Green Cross Russia said that sulfur poses much more harm to the environment than even the oil spill.

Officials from countries bordering the Black Sea—such as Georgia, Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria—said they are on high alert and are ready to protect their shores from the spill if the polluted waters move toward their shores.

Meanwhile, Russian prosecutors and media have mentioned launching an investigation citing human error as the cause of the disaster and of possible criminal charges against the stricken ships' crew. According to the region's weather service, captains of the battered ships repeatedly ignored weather forecast warnings and entered the strait against orders.

Environmental experts also told the Russian media that the Black Sea oil spill was caused by greed and carelessness. Vladimir Slivyak, director of Ecodefence, a Russian environmental watchdog, said that oil prices are at a peak now and the Russian industry is trying to export as much oil as possible while not paying attention to safety rules.

Russia is the world's second largest exporter of oil after Saudi Arabia, and oil leaks are common inland. Terrestrial oil pipes traverse Russian territory and connect oil wells in Siberia with refineries based in countries as far as Poland.

Although the amount of oil involved is small compared to the spill near the Spanish coast five years ago—when more than 60,000 tons of fuel oil caused severe damage to the environment—the Black Sea oil spill, according to experts, may be the worst calamity since the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986.
 

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