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The volunteers have gathered and
removed from the seashore about 5 tons of oil-polluted sand and
seaweed. The main challenge though was not the cleaning, but carrying
the waste from the coastline up the seashore steep slopes. Luckily for
volunteers, some locals agreed to provide them with a truck to bring
the waste up to the road.
“We do understand that we are unable to clean a large area all by ourselves, but we have no choice. State officials refuse to provide us support, though their statements about the full-scale clean-up operation here are not true. The spill is being cleaned only at Chushka and Tuzla Spits, whereas in Kuchugury village area the oil is just being buried in the sand”, Greenpeace response team head Dmitry Artamonov says. “We want to show the government that it is unacceptable to postpone the shore cleaning works as well as to refuse the volunteers’ help especially if the cleaning crews lack workers”.
Even if a thousand workers and cleanup equipment is deployed, the complete clean-up of Azov coastal areas will take many weeks, states Greenpeace. The area where the volunteers have gathered 5 tons of oily sand and seaweed, was only 50 sq. m. Also fuel oil is being covered with sand and seashells, and it will be more and more difficult to remove it as the time passes.
“It seems the government is not going to clean this area at all. Probably, they hope that oil will soon be buried by sand and nobody will see anything,” adds Artamonov.
Fuel oil causes great damage to the marine and coastal ecosystems. Greenpeace urges the government to start clean-up operation in all the polluted areas as soon as possible, providing sufficient manpower and cleanup equipment..
“We do understand that we are unable to clean a large area all by ourselves, but we have no choice. State officials refuse to provide us support, though their statements about the full-scale clean-up operation here are not true. The spill is being cleaned only at Chushka and Tuzla Spits, whereas in Kuchugury village area the oil is just being buried in the sand”, Greenpeace response team head Dmitry Artamonov says. “We want to show the government that it is unacceptable to postpone the shore cleaning works as well as to refuse the volunteers’ help especially if the cleaning crews lack workers”.
Even if a thousand workers and cleanup equipment is deployed, the complete clean-up of Azov coastal areas will take many weeks, states Greenpeace. The area where the volunteers have gathered 5 tons of oily sand and seaweed, was only 50 sq. m. Also fuel oil is being covered with sand and seashells, and it will be more and more difficult to remove it as the time passes.
“It seems the government is not going to clean this area at all. Probably, they hope that oil will soon be buried by sand and nobody will see anything,” adds Artamonov.
Fuel oil causes great damage to the marine and coastal ecosystems. Greenpeace urges the government to start clean-up operation in all the polluted areas as soon as possible, providing sufficient manpower and cleanup equipment..
