A large-scale cleanup of oil pollution washed ashore continues along the Kurzeme coast. Laboratory tests have shown that the oil products entered the Baltic Sea recently, and one of the main theories remains their discharge from a vessel.
For the fifth consecutive day, the collection of oil products washed ashore continues along the Kurzeme coast. The work on the beaches of Ventspils has already been completed, but the cleaning of the coastline in the Ventspils region is ongoing. This was reported by TV3 News.
According to the local government, approximately 24 kilometers of the coastline have been cleaned so far. About 18 kilometers of coastline remain, where staff and volunteers continue to work.
Magda Jentgena, an expert from the World Wildlife Fund, stated that the main challenge is not the volume of pollution, but its nature.
"There is still a lot of pollution. It is very dispersed, so the work is slow. In an hour and a half, we covered just over a kilometer," she noted.
According to the specialist, most of the oil products consist of small clumps that have to be literally searched for among the sand.
"Sometimes they can be swept up with brushes and shovels, but more often they are very small pieces that have to be picked up almost one by one," Jentgena explained.
The cleaning on the beaches of Ventspils has already been completed. More than 1000 bags of a mixture of sand and oil products have been collected.
As reported by Edgar Purins, the deputy director of the Ventspils Municipal Administration, about 900 bags were collected on the left bank, and approximately 200 more in the Staldzene area, where the cleaning proved to be more challenging.
Meanwhile, the State Environmental Service has received the results of laboratory tests of the samples. The analyses have ruled out the initial version that the pollution has historical origins.
Experts have established that mainly light oil products—diesel fuel and gas oil—were washed ashore. This indicates that the pollution entered the sea relatively recently.
The State Environmental Service considers it most likely that the oil products may have come into the Baltic Sea from one of the vessels.
"Such cases most often occur after the discharge of water resulting from the washing of cargo tanks or other oil-containing discharges. We are currently indeed looking for a vessel that may be involved in this pollution," said Evija Shmite, the deputy director of the service.
Polish specialists have also joined the investigation. Over the past weekend, similar pollution was discovered along the Baltic Sea coast in Poland. There is currently no confirmation that the two cases are related, but the relevant investigation is ongoing.
The investigation into the origin of the oil pollution continues, and the cleaning of the Kurzeme coast will proceed until the contaminated areas are fully cleared.
Leave a comment