A satellite image captured stains in the waters off Tuapse.
A satellite image captured oil slicks in the sea from Shepsi to the port and city beach of Tuapse. The slicks do not necessarily indicate oil slicks on the water, but film pollution has been recorded there before, the Transparent World project noted.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," sections of the Black Sea coast near Tuapse contaminated by oil products from the local oil refinery are being cleaned unevenly: active work is underway near city infrastructure, but remote and "wild" beaches are being neglected, local residents and volunteers stated.
On May 1, a fire broke out at the Tuapse sea terminal after a drone attack. It was extinguished on May 2. This fire is the fourth in Tuapse since April 16. Earlier, on April 24, after booms broke due to rising water levels in the Tuapse River, an oil spill occurred into the Black Sea. A series of attacks on Tuapse's oil infrastructure has led to environmental consequences, according to the Caucasian Knot report "Fires and 'Oil Rains': Key Information on the Environmental Disaster in Tuapse".
An image from May 6, taken by the Sentinel-2A remote sensing satellite, was analyzed by Transparent World experts. "Elongated spots and turbid streaks are visible in the waters off Tuapse and further south along the coast. The most noticeable traces are visible opposite the port and the city beach, as well as further down the coastline toward Gizel-Dere, Dederkoy, Shepsi, and Magri," the image description reads.
"One optical image cannot automatically assume that all visible traces are oil products. Some of them may be due to coastal turbidity, currents, cloud shadows, or other causes. However, it is worth considering that film pollution has already been recorded in this water area," the report states.
A regional emergency regime is in effect throughout the entire Tuapse District. For information on emergency assessment criteria, response levels, structures, and resources for eliminating the consequences, please see the Caucasian Knot document "Emergency Situation Regime (ES)".
Materials on the consequences of the fuel oil spill have been collected by the Caucasian Knot on the page "Eco-disaster in Kuban".
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