MOSCOW, October 5. /TASS/. The accident in Kamchatka is unlikely to be man-caused because tests do not indicate presence of petroleum products in the water or onshore, Russian Minister of Natural Resources Dmitry Kobylkin told reporters on Monday.
"All the tests we have performed together with the Russian environmental supervision agency Rosprirodnadzor indicate that TLV [threshold limit values - TASS] are not exceeded in respect of oil products in water or onshore [in the accident area - TASS]," the minister said. "Most probably, this is not man-caused," he added.
More detailed information will appear later, Kobylkin said. Tests have already been partly delivered to Moscow.
It is also premature to speak about damages before ascertaining causes, the minister noted.
Specialists earlier detected excess phenol and oil products content in the coastal zone of Khalaktyrsky Beach in Kamchatka, where a large-scale beaching of aquatic animals was registered. Pollution was later identified in three other areas of the Avacha Bay, and cases of sea habitat death were confirmed in the Bolshaya Lagernaya Bay, the Malaya Lagernaya Bay and the Babya Bay. Samples of water, sand, algae and marine organisms were sent to Moscow on Sunday for toxicological, chemical and biological tests.