Russia declared a regional state of emergency in Crimea on Saturday as cleanup efforts continued following an oil spill in the Black Sea last month. The spill, originating from two aging tankers damaged by a storm on December 15, has led to significant environmental damage and ongoing remediation work.
The Russia-installed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, citing new traces of pollution that require immediate action. In this declaration, authorities are allowed to have wider powers, and evacuations may be ordered.
The Kerch Strait separates Crimea’s Kerch Peninsula from Russia’s Krasnodar region, which links the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov. According to the emergency’s ministry, cleanup crews have removed more than 86,000 metric tons of oil-contaminated sand and soil. The spill, initially feared to be larger, was recently estimated by the transport ministry to involve around 2,400 metric tons of oil products.
Thousands of workers have been mobilized to clean up beaches along Anapa, a popular resort town, which is now tainted with heavy M100-grade fuel oil. Such oil becomes solid at temperatures higher than 25 degrees Celsius and sinks instead of floating, which complicates cleanup. Environmental groups reported that some animals were killed by the oil, including dolphins, porpoises, and seabirds.
The emergencies ministry posted video footage of workers in protective gear loading contaminated soil onto trucks and skimming oil-tainted sand. Clean-up efforts have been focused in the wider Kuban region and Crimea, whose annexation by Russia in 2014 is not recognized internationally.
The accident reflects the long-term issues with aged infrastructure and environmental hazards from the transportation of oil in the region.
