KRASNODAR, January 9. /TASS/. Rescuers and volunteers have already removed nearly 140,000 tons of oil-contaminated sand along the coasts of the Krasnodar Region after an oil spill caused by a tanker accident in the Kerch Strait, the regional operational headquarters wrote on its Telegram channel.
"Over 139,000 tons of 'oily' sand have been removed from the beaches of Anapa and the Temryuksky district since the clean-up began. Most [of the sand] was removed from the shoreline and delivered to the settlement of Voskresensky near Anapa for temporary storage - it is more than 100,000 tons of oil-contaminated soil," the message reads.
Over 7,200 people have assembled to carry out the emergency response effort with the help of 691 units of special equipment. On January 8, the marine rescue service inspected more than 99 square kilometers of the Black Sea's water area.
On December 15, the Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 tankers sank in the Kerch Strait area in the Black Sea amid a storm. One sailor died, and the rest were evacuated. According to emergency services, the tankers were carrying about 9,200 tons of fuel oil. An oil spill occurred in the Black Sea as a result of the accident, and clean-up operations are underway. According to the Russian Ministry of Transport, about 2,400 tons of oil products have leaked into the Black Sea, which is much less than the initial estimates.