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On December 28, oil was spilled into the Baltic Sea at the Būtingė terminal operated by Orlen Lietuva. According to preliminary data, about 480 liters of oil entered the sea.
On January 7, the Klaipėda Regional Public Prosecutor’s Office launched a pre-trial investigation for a possible violation of the rules for the use and maintenance of equipment. The objective of the investigation is to determine whether the facilities have been used and maintained without violating the requirements of legal acts, to explain the causes of the accident, damage to the environment and the ecosystem.
A hose with pollutants sank into the sea
The Klaipėda Regional Prosecutor tv3.lt reveals that during the accident a hose drowned in the sea, inside which two tons of pollutants remained. The hose is reported to be closed and no pollutants have been released into the environment yet.
“Information has been received that an emergency coupling in the floating hose connecting the boat to the buoy was disconnected, as a result of which the four-part part of the hose, about 40 meters long, was disconnected and disappeared”, says Vilija Žukauskien, Klaipeda Regional Prosecutor.
The prosecutor says the hose was searched as soon as the accident occurred, but when it was not found, the search was stopped. Currently, according to V. Žukauskienė, both the prosecution and Orlen Lietuva are deciding how to find a lost hose more quickly. The broken hose may be somewhere in Latvia.
“The situation is complicated by the fact that there were very strong currents at that time, both shallow and deep. A possibly broken hose with two tons of oil may be somewhere in Latvia. Internationally reported, all ships should know. In various versions, maybe when it hooks somewhere, a part of the coupling should sink, maybe it hooks somewhere, because the bottom of Latvia is very rocky, ”says V. Žukauskienė.
According to the prosecutor, there is still no evidence that the contaminants within the hose have been released into the environment.
“The hose is dangerous only because it contains oil. Two tons of oil. That hose, the coupling was disconnected, but the ends must be clamped and we still have no information about the fact that two tons of oil came out, no one reported,” he says V. Žukauskienė.
According to the prosecutor, the investigation is also hampered by the pandemic. Orlen Lietuva employees have not yet been interviewed about Covid-19.
There is a lack of action on the part of Orlen Lietuva
The Minister of the Environment, Simonas Gentvilas, is critical of the situation. According to the minister, there is a lack of communication from Orlen Lietuva.
“It seems to me that the oil spill in this case should be fully accounted for and I’m still waiting for Orlen to say something in public and comment, because as I understand they are still on the run from journalists,” says S. Gentvilas. .
The minister says he spoke to the CEO of the company and was informed that Orlen Lietuva is auditing and reviewing the pipeline, trying to find out the reasons for the incident.
The ministry itself promises to act. According to the Minister of the Environment, such an accident is not justified and similar scenarios cannot be repeated in the future.
“Together with the Environmental Protection Agency, we will review the technology itself, whether it is the latest or the best possible technology for such charging mechanisms. If we see that there are better technologies, we will talk to the company to invest in it.
The loads are enormous in that terminal, millions of tons of oil are being transshipped. It is not a tanker spill, a hose break with automatic braking mechanisms, I will not go into technology, but it seems to me that it should be evaluated if this is the best technology available in the Baltic Sea, which is already contaminated, other than the best technologies ”, comments S. Gentvilas.
Every drop is dangerous
After the accident at the Būtingė terminal, a pollutant almost four kilometers long and one hundred meters wide formed in the Baltic Sea. Eugene Valikov, head of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, said at the time that the amount of oil spilled was not large and did not cause a dangerous impact on nature.
However, the Minister of the Environment, S. Gentville, has a different opinion: every drop of pollutant is dangerous.
“When it comes to the impact of oil on nature, it is more dangerous, especially for birds that fly to the Baltic coast from the far north in an especially cold climate. It is hotter here. Oil-dirty birds simply die because their layer of grease gets wet and they drown or freeze because the lint sticks and no longer protects.
Second, the total pollution in the Baltic Sea itself is already so high that eating fish from the Baltic Sea is not recommended, because they store everything from mercury to heavy metals in some organs, ”says S. Gentvilas.
The minister is not reassured by the fact that the Būtingė accident occurred late last year in the absence of extreme conditions. According to the minister, there are pollution recording devices on the Orlen Lietuva buoy, so the company should explain why they did not work in the event of an accident.
“Such oil spills, which are not extremely disruptive even during an accident, but in elementary natural conditions, not during a hurricane. It is obvious that something has been overlooked and even when the tanker is not connected, such events occur, it is really worrying ”, comments S. Gentvilas.
The Department of Environmental Protection, Orlen Lietuva, does not comment on the situation. Orlen Lietuva told tv3.lt journalists that he was also conducting an investigation at his company, promising more extensive comments to the public at the end of the investigation and when the broader conclusions became clear.
The Klaipėda Regional Prosecutor’s Office estimates that the damage caused to nature may reach 26 thousand. euros.
Orlen Lietuva has been importing oil through the Būtingė terminal since 2006, when the Polish company Orlen acquired the then Mažeikių Nafta.
In 1999-2008, four major or minor incidents occurred at the Būtingė terminal, which has been in operation since 1998.
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