Environmentalists question the beaches' readiness for the season following the Tuapse spill.

The consequences of the pollution in Tuapse cannot be considered completely eliminated, and an objective assessment of the situation is impossible without open information on the scale of the spill, environmentalists noted. Rescue teams continue to clean the central beaches. Beaches in resort villages are being cleaned only by small groups of volunteers, and accommodation owners are reporting a drop in demand.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," rescuers reported that work to clean up the oil spill near the Tuapse Oil Refinery has been completed. Telegram users responded sarcastically to official reports on the cleanup of the oil spill near the refinery and promises to clean the beaches by June 1.

Ecologists point to a lack of information about the scale of the pollution

Ecologist Igor Shkradyuk, who visited several coastal areas on May 23 and 24, believes that the exact volumes of petroleum products that entered the sea have not yet been determined.

"As far as I know, no one has estimated the amount of petroleum products that entered the sea," he noted.

According to him, information was released that 60% of the 150,000-ton oil depot's tanks were damaged or burned. "This means that approximately 90,000 tons of petroleum products burned, evaporated, spilled on the plant's territory, entered the river, and spilled into the sea. This includes oil, fuel oil, gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuel. "Nobody has said in what proportions they ended up in nature," Shkradyuk told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Oil and various types of petroleum products float in the sea and are washed ashore by southerly winds. Fuel oil sticks to rocks and pebbles, while diesel fuel flows into the pebbles. How much remains in the sea is unclear.

According to him, some of the pollution continues to migrate along the coast.

"Oil and various types of petroleum products float in the sea and are washed ashore by southerly winds. Fuel oil sticks to rocks and pebbles, while diesel fuel flows into the pebbles. "It's unclear how much remains in the sea," the ecologist noted.

Shkradyuk said he thoroughly examined the beaches in Gizel-Dere and Tyumenskoye.

"The pollution here appears in patches and streaks. This is unlike the central beach in Tuapse and the port, where the oil products were a continuous layer," he reported.

In several areas of the coast—in Tyumenskoye, Nebug, Olginka, Novomikhaylovskoye, and other villages—fragmentary emissions and the smell of oil products have been recorded, especially after storms or southerly winds. Some of the pollution remains within the pebble layer, he noted.

"There are greasy, shiny spots on the rocks. This is oil and fuel oil—the most harmful. There are dirty pebbles with black and brown spots, not shiny. These are various oil products in a thin layer. "They gradually decompose or polymerize in the sun. Although petroleum products can also be embedded in the pebbles. We dug them up to the depth of a shovel," Shkradyuk said.

He noted that one of the peculiarities of the situation in Tuapse was the so-called "oil rains."

Petroleum products contain a large number of toxic compounds. When heated and evaporated, they enter the air, settle on skin, and can penetrate water and soil.

According to Shkradyuk, there is virtually no official information about the impact of pollution on human health.

"People swim when the sea is clean." "There is no official data on the impact on human health," he noted, adding that he cannot call swimming after an oil spill or relaxing on such beaches beneficial for health.

The effects of pollution can be long-term

Ecologist Valery Brinikh believes that the consequences of such pollution can be long-term, especially for vulnerable groups.

"Petroleum products contain a large number of toxic compounds. When heated and evaporated, they enter the air, settle on the skin, and can penetrate into water and soil. "The most vulnerable are children, the elderly, pregnant women, people with respiratory diseases, and weakened immune systems," Brinikh told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to him, even after visual cleanup, pollution can continue to spread and affect people's health.

"Imagine a plate of water with oil spilled on it. The film may seem small, but it gradually spreads across the entire surface. Oil and petroleum products behave the same way at sea—currents and wind carry the pollution along the coast," the ecologist explained.

So far, people are mainly hearing announcements about the opening of beaches for the season.

Brinikh emphasized that open and objective data on the state of water, air, and the coastal zone is necessary for an objective risk assessment.

"So far, people are mainly hearing announcements about the opening of beaches for the season. But without complete and reliable information about the pollution, it is impossible to objectively assess the risks for either local residents or vacationers," he said.

Shkradyuk also drew attention to the possible delayed effects of exposure to petroleum products.

"The worst, albeit very rare, case is the effect of fuel oil on the reproductive system and the future birth of children with developmental disabilities," the ecologist said.

The number of volunteers in Tuapse is incomparable to Anapa

Volunteer Zhanna Rybak, who previously participated in the cleanup in Anapa, said there are significantly fewer volunteers in Tuapse.

"The scope of the work is much smaller, but there are more problems. There are far fewer volunteers after the Tuapse disaster because, unlike in Anapa, there was no funding from the very beginning for accommodation and food. "These are literally small groups in several locations," she said.

According to Rybak, some volunteers are coming at their own expense, while local residents and businesses are providing assistance with accommodation and food. "Some pay for their own travel, but then people can't stay long. In other places, local residents or businesses are helping organize accommodation. Ordinary people are also helping with food through a centralized procurement system," she said.

The state of emergency is regional, not federal, so the scale of assistance differs from that in Anapa.

Rybak noted that emergency services are primarily working in the most contaminated areas.

"The services themselves quickly got involved in the process and are still working. "But the emergency situation has been declared regionally, not federally, so the scale of assistance differs from that in Anapa," the volunteer explained.

According to her, the main work is currently focused on the central pollution sites.

"We currently have a full-time volunteer in Tuapse, and she says the services are working hard at the main emission sites," Rybak reported.

Shkradyuk said that on May 23, he participated in a meeting with the leadership of the Tyumen volunteer headquarters and representatives of the People's Front, where they discussed ways to clean up contaminated pebbles and the shoreline. Among the proposed measures, the ecologist mentioned the use of oil-absorbing barriers along the shore, high-pressure washing of rocks, and mechanical cleaning of contaminated pebbles.

He also emphasized that the contaminated area remains significant.

"The spill area reaches hundreds of square kilometers," Shkradyuk said, adding that these spills are moving toward both Anapa and Sochi, as well as further out to sea.

Emissions have affected animals

Shkradyuk visited the volunteer center "Chance for Life" in Shepsi, where animals affected by the pollution are kept.

"There are currently 150 animals there—dogs, puppies, cats, kittens. There have been severe poisonings. Poisoning from oil rain begins to have a significant impact after ten days. "There were no deaths from fuel oil poisoning," the ecologist said.

According to him, some of the animals were rehomed.

"25 ​​animals have already been given to good homes. But many are afraid to release the animals back because of the risk of further emissions and oil rain," he noted.

Accommodation owners are facing an outflow of vacationers

Amid preparations for the resort season, representatives of the tourism industry are reporting anxiety among vacationers. Owners of guest houses in the Tuapse district of Shepsi report that regular customers continue to inquire about the beach conditions, the sea state, and the presence of oil odors.

"They call and ask. These are mostly my old clients. Some haven't made decisions yet. Others have booked rooms. The flow has dropped by 60 percent. This is naturally a hit to the pocketbook. "We have high expenses for organizing the tourism business, and the income is small," Olga, the owner of a five-room guesthouse in Shepsi, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Denis, the owner of a seven-room guesthouse in Olginka, says he personally saw oil films and stains on the water and rocks, but didn't see anyone cleaning them up. "I even smelled it. I don't think the pioneers who come to us this summer won't see this and won't write about the true state of affairs on social media. I don't want to lie to anyone, and I honestly tell guests who call that I don't know the situation, because there's been no official information about the condition of the beaches since the events in Tuapse. "But I'm saying that I have a sauna, a swimming pool on the premises, and the water in it is always clean and available to guests, and the sun shines brightly in the summer," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

We all felt sick after three hours of being there from the stench, and we didn't go to the beach anymore.

Victoria, a volunteer from St. Petersburg who came to visit relatives in Tuapse on vacation, said that she once went out to clean the city beach with her relatives.

"But we all felt sick after three hours of being there from the stench, and we didn't go to the beach anymore. I think everything that's happening is terrible harm to the environment and people. I'm thinking of changing the geography of our vacation to the Siberian expanses of Russia," she noted, adding that she doesn't yet see any possibility for herself of vacationing at the resorts of the Krasnodar Territory, where she came regularly.

On May 1, after a drone attack, a fire started on the territory of the sea terminal in Tuapse. It was extinguished on May 2. This fire was 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 led to environmental consequences, according to the Caucasian Knot report "Fires and "oil rain": the main information about the environmental disaster in Tuapse".

A regional emergency regime is in effect throughout the Tuapse Okrug . About the criteria for assessing an emergency, Information on response levels, structures, and resources for eliminating the consequences can be found in 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".