Authorities in Russia's southern Krasnodar region have declared a state of emergency across the region, saying oil is still leaking onto the coast 10 days after two aging tankers capsized, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
The oil is from tankers that ran aground in a storm on December 15. One vessel broke in two and the other ran aground. The pollution covering the sandy beaches of Anapa and its surroundings, a popular summer resort, is causing serious problems for seabirds and all kinds of animals - from dolphins to porpoises - and more than 10,000 people are trying to clean it up.
Veniamin Kondratiev, governor of Krasnodar Krai, said in a statement that he had decided to declare a state of emergency in the entire region, as oil is still polluting the coast in Anapa and Temryuk districts.
"Initially, according to the calculations of scientists and specialists, the main mass of fuel oil should have remained at the bottom of the Black Sea, which would have allowed it to collect in the water," Kondratiev wrote on Telegram. "But time dictates its own conditions, the air is warming and petroleum products are rising. As a result, they are being carried to our beaches".
In total, more than 256 square kilometers of the coastal area have been surveyed and 25 tons of oil-water sediments have been collected, the crisis center focused on the cleanup said.