Russia declared a regional state of emergency in Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014, due to an oil spill in the Black Sea last month. The spill occurred in the Kerch Strait, which separates Crimea’s Kerch Peninsula from Russia’s Krasnodar region. Workers have been clearing contaminated sand and soil, with more than 86,000 metric tons already removed. The oil leaked from two tankers during a storm on Dec. 15, with one sinking and the other running aground.
The governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, declared a state of emergency in the city to address new traces of pollution. This declaration gives authorities more power to take quick action, such as ordering evacuations. Over 10,000 people have been working to clean up the oil from beaches in and around Anapa, a summer resort. Environmental groups have reported deaths of dolphins, porpoises, and sea birds.
The oil spill involved heavy M100-grade fuel oil, which does not float to the surface but sinks to the bottom or remains suspended in the water column. Despite initial fears of a larger spill, experts determined that about 2,400 metric tons of oil products had been released into the sea. The cleanup efforts have extended to the broader Kuban region in Russia, as well as Crimea. The annexation of Crimea by Russia has not been recognized by most other countries.
