The spill of Russian fuel oil in the Black Sea has become the “largest environmental disaster” in Russia since the beginning of the 21st century, said Viktor Danilov-Danilyan, scientific director of the Institute of Water Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in an interview with Russian Media. “This is the first time that fuel oil has been spilled in such large quantities.. In my opinion, this is the most serious environmental disaster in Russia since the beginning of the 21st century. This is an unprecedented event,” said Danilov-Danilyan. According to him, this situation cannot be compared with the diesel fuel spill in Norilsk in 2020, since then everything was “localized and quickly eliminated”. The event in the Black Sea is a “strong blow” for the ecosystem, the academician emphasized. " In such an environment, even in salt water, almost nothing can live, with the exception of microorganisms that feed on fuel oil and decompose it,” he explained. He also noted that the removal of at least 200-500 thousand tons of contaminated soil is already having consequences: in places where fuel oil entered the sea due to the removal of soil, the coastline has shifted by 30-50 meters. Pollution will not only affect Russia - at the end of January it could reach Odessa, the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria, as well as the southeast of the Black Sea near Turkey. The scientist did not predict how long it would take to cleanse the Black Sea of \u200b\u200bfuel oil. “Having descended to a depth of more than 200 meters, where the hydrogen sulfide layer is located, fuel oil can remain there for a very long time. But you need to be prepared for the fact that rising currents can lift it. Constant monitoring of resort shores is needed, and only when it becomes clear that new emissions of fuel oil clots are becoming an exception, monitoring can be weakened,” the academician noted. He emphasized that this situation could be avoided if ships that should have been decommissioned 20 years ago did not enter the Black Sea. “It is impossible to avoid catastrophic consequences with this approach: sooner or later they would come. Our insurance mechanism for such events practically does not work, and serious work to eliminate the consequences began only on the ninth or tenth day after the accident,” the scientist added.

Let us remind you that after the crash, fuel oil from tankers washed up on the shores of the Krasnodar Territory - the beaches turned black from the fuel oil. Previously, residents of Anapa independently eliminated the consequences of tanker accidents. There was an unbearable smell on the beach. Therefore, some of the volunteers felt ill. Damage from tanker accidents in the Kerch Strait will amount to $14 billion. News on Telegram and WhatsApp. Subscribe to our channels https://t. me/korrespondentnet and WhatsApp Author: 1.