No clear plan of action yet: new areas of shore with fuel oil from Russian tankers discovered in Odesa region

Fuel oil on the coast of Odesa region. Photo: Ivan Rusev's Facebook page

New large areas of fuel oil contamination have been discovered on the coast of Odesa region. The contaminated area is located on the border with the Danube Biosphere Reserve.

This was reported by Ivan Rusev, head of the research department of the national park «Tuzly Estuaries».

He noted that on 27 January, the national park's employees examined the sandbar near the western part of the Dzhantsheisky and Sasyk estuaries, near the Danube Biosphere Reserve.

«Significant areas of the embankment were found where the sea had discharged fuel oil. The fuel oil fractions are located at a distance of 30 to 50 metres from the seawater edge. The size of the fraction varies from 0.5 to 5 centimetres. The length of the fuel oil discharge is 1 kilometre, with an average width of 1 metre, but there is a section of the spill that is 200 metres long and up to 6 metres wide. We found bird feathers that were in the fuel oil», he said.

According to Ivan Rusev, there is an urgent need for a clear response plan and an algorithm for monitoring the contamination, as well as a plan for the collection and disposal of fuel oil. However, according to him, there has been no response from the authorities.

«It's been 5 days since we discovered fuel oil on the sandy embankment in different areas and officially informed the public and the authorities, but there is neither a clear action plan for monitoring, collecting and disposing of fuel oil, nor any practical actions fuel oil is still lying in the places about which the head of the National Park «Tuzly Estuaries» Iryna Vykhrystiuk informed the environmental inspection on 24 January... Meanwhile, yesterday there was a meeting of the technogenic and ecological commission of the Odesa Regional State Administration, but there is no clear action plan and no practical measures to clean up the already existing contaminated areas of sandy spill from fuel oil,» he added.

Fuel oil on the coast of Odesa region. Photo: Ivan Rusev's Facebook page

Fuel oil on the coast of Odesa region. Photo: Ivan Rusev's Facebook page

Earlier it was reported that after the storms, fuel oil washed up on the sandy embankment in the recreational area «Katranka» near the Danube Biosphere Reserve and «Tuzly Estuary».

As of 27 January, employees of the National Nature Park «Tuzly Estuaries» had collected up to four kilograms of fuel oil.

Russian tanker accident

As a reminder, on 15 December 2024, near Cape Panagia in the Kerch Strait , the «Volgoneft» tanker ran aground, and 4 tonnes of fuel oil could have leaked into the sea. Later it became known that another tanker, the «Volgoneft-239», began to sink next. Its hull broke into two parts after being hit by a wave.

The leakage of fuel oil from two Russian tankers in the Black Sea caused a large-scale environmental disaster. The damage caused to the Black Sea ecosystem exceeds $14 billion.

Animal rights activists have recorded 32 deaths of cetaceans, including whales, dolphins and porpoises, following the accident with two Russian oil tankers «Volgoneft-212» and «Volgoneft-239». The deaths are most likely related to the fuel oil spill, which has already reached Feodosia, Alushta and Sudak.