Russia launches probe into oil spill off Black Sea coast
MOSCOW/LAGOS: Russian prosecutors on Wednesday opened a criminal probe into an oil spill off the country’s Black Sea coast that appeared to be far bigger than initially expected and left traces of pollution along the scenic coastline.
The spill occurred over the weekend at the oil terminal in Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka near the port of Novorossiysk that belongs to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which pumps crude from Kazakhstan. The oil spilled while being pumped into the Minerva Symphony tanker, which sails under the Greek flag. Authorities initially estimated that the spill covered only about 200sq metres, but Russian scientists said on Wednesday after studying satellite images that it actually covered nearly 80sq km.
WWF Russia has estimated that about 100 metric tons of oil have spilled into the sea.
The prosecutor general’s office has opened a criminal probe on charges of environmental pollution and said it would seek damages.
Russian media said traces of oil were spotted along the scenic Black Sea coast, including
Abrau-Dyurso and a dolphin aquarium in Bolshoy Utrish, 25km to the west, where workers urgently put up barriers to protect the mammals. The spill’s oily film was also spotted in the resort city of Anapa, further west down the coast.
Deputy prime minister Viktoria Abramchenko met with the director of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium that operates a 1,511km pipeline stretching from Kazakhstan to Russia’s Black Sea coast to request information about the spill.
Shell to pay $111mn for Nigerian oil spill
Oil major Shell will pay a Nigerian community 45.9 billion naira ($111.68mn) to settle a case over an oil spill that took place more than 50 years ago, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
The company will pay the Ejama-Ebubu community in Nigeria’s Ogoniland the “full and final settlement” to end the case over a spill that took place during the 1967-70 Biafran War.
Nigeria’s supreme court in November last year denied Shell’s bid to challenge a 2010 award of 17 billion naira ($41.36mn), that with accruing interest the community had said was worth more than 180 billion naira ($439.6mn).