ADVERTISING

A regional state of emergency has been declared in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region as oil continues to wash ashore.

On December 15, two aging Russian oil tankers collided after being hit by a storm in the Kerch Strait, spilling more than 4,300 tons of heavy fuel oil into the Black Sea. Officials say the spill contaminated about 35 miles (55 km) of coastline.

The two ships were carrying a low-grade oil product called mazut, which was commonly used to heat homes in parts of the former Soviet Union. Officials deployed more than 7,500 people, including many volunteers, to rescue wildlife and clean up shorelines contaminated by the black substance.

Russian state news agency Tass reported that around 12,000 tons of contaminated soil were removed along a 21-mile (34 km) coastline.

Veniamin Kondratiev, governor of the Krasnodar Territory, said in a statement on Telegram that initial calculations assumed that most of the oil remained at the bottom of the Black Sea, allowing it to be collected in the water.

“But the weather sets its own conditions, the air warms up and oil products rise to the surface. As a result, they wash up on our beaches,” Kondratiev said.

Pollution has blanketed the sandy beaches around Anapa, a popular summer resort. Kondratiev says his government will work to restore the area, adding that the main priority is to clean up the coast as quickly as possible to preserve the resort.

Additional sources • AP