A giant oil slick that leaked into the Black Sea near the port city of Novorossiysk in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region on Friday is nearing the shores of the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula, according to Greenpeace.
Dmitry Markin, an expert at Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe, told Russian investigative news outlet IStories on Wednesday that the spill demonstrated that profiting from oil sales was “more important for the current Russian regime than the safety of nature and its citizens.”
The oil spill, which took place at a marine terminal belonging to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) near Novorossiysk on Friday, was the twelfth known leak off Russia’s Black Sea coast this year, according to independent news outlet Agentstvo.
The leak is also the largest since the wreck of the Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239 tankers in December, each reportedly carrying over 4,000 tonnes of oil, Agentstvo added.
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“Another oil spill off the coast clearly shows that in Russia environmental safety is increasingly being sacrificed for the sake of the oil industry,” Markin told IStories, accusing the authorities of “turning a blind eye to violations and helping oil companies cover up incidents” and noting that environmental monitoring efforts had weakened sharply amid the increase in political oppression in the country.
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According to Greenpeace, the pollution forms a continuous film, which poses a great risk to living organisms, as the film instantly blocks contact with oxygen. Birds will be the first to suffer, as they will come into contact with petroleum products when landing on the water and diving (for example, in search of food). In addition to birds, marine mammals and other marine animals will also fall victim to the oil spill.
Scores of Birds Stricken in Krasnodar After Latest Black Sea Oil Spill
A local wildlife rehabilitation center reported taking in water birds coated in oil along beaches near Novorossiysk and Anapa, the latter of which is a popular tourist destination. Many birds suffered chemical burns, poisoning and dehydration, according to center staff.
“Birds are collected night and day, many of them [are found] dead,” the center wrote in a Telegram post on Tuesday, after earlier saying that three of 24 birds taken in for treatment had so far died.
was the twelfth known leak off Russia’s Black Sea coast this year, according to independent news outlet Agentstvo.
WTF. How can this still be economical to run even? Aside from the obvious that the EU needs to stop financing Russias war chest through direct or indirect purchases of their oil, We need to liberate ourselves from oil and gas products as quickly as possible. These industries are inherently destructive.
4000 tonnes of oil are worth $1.8million or so. Even with 12 spills it is a joke compared to the money Russia is making from selling it.