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According to data on the day of the incident, almost two tons of pollutants entered the water, and on Wednesday, environmentalists already announced that only 480 liters of oil have entered the Baltic.
The environment minister promises to find out the real scale, including law enforcement, and scientists are already talking about the danger to the birds listed in the Red Book, which are hibernating where the oil was spilled.
A 4-kilometer-long, 100-meter-wide oil slick swept into the Baltic Sea on Monday. The pollutants spread from the Orlen Lietuva buoy, owned by the Polish company Orlen, at the Būtingė oil terminal.
PHOTO GALLERY. The effects of oil spill response are exacerbated by waves and subzero temperatures
According to company representatives, the pollutants were spilled due to mechanical damage. The company admits its guilt and agrees to compensate for the damage to nature. According to the initial calculations of ecologists, the damage to nature amounts to about twelve thousand euros, because, according to the calculation methodology of the Ministry of the Environment, 480 liters of oil were spilled in the Baltic.
“The Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania has published data that, according to their calculations, it is likely that, according to preliminary calculations, some 480 liters of oil have been spilled, but these data are preliminary. Of course, examining the circumstances of the incident will make that clear. We are also carrying out an investigation inside and we are really willing to compensate the damages, as provided by law, ”says Kristina Gendvilė, spokesperson for Orlen Lietuva.
However, Environment Minister Simon Gentvil, who saw the pollutant stain in the photos, can hardly believe that only 480 liters were spilled. Therefore, it promises even to turn to the forces of order to find out what the real magnitude of the disaster is, since the responsible authorities announced on Monday that there are almost two tons of contaminants here.
“I have skepticism in my mind, because seeing such a place, given how quickly the air and wind distracted, and even two hours later I saw a place that stretched for four kilometers into the sea, I am still skeptical that only that amount, “Gentville says. .
And scientists believe that the oil really could have been half a ton. Such expansion is said to be the specificity of this material.
“It can be spread because it depends on the composition of that oil. In the case of light fractions, their layer can have up to one molecule. Molecular layer. And therefore, of course, it is not surprising that it can be spread over a large enough area, ”says Sergej Olenin, a researcher at Klaipėda University.
However, the morning after the disaster, on Tuesday, the oil slick disappeared. According to the scientists, it dissipated into the water as the air warmed or sank to the bottom and contaminated the ground.
“If it falls to the ground, those lumps form. It can penetrate animals, mixing with the plants that live there at the bottom. That’s an effect too, “Olenin said.
Furthermore, scientists claim that even such a small amount of spilled oil, if it remains on the surface of the water even for a few hours, can cause irreparable damage to birds wintering in the Baltic.
In 2012, a scientist at the University of Klaipeda captured birds smeared with oil. Then the source of the contamination could not be identified and the birds fell one after another. Even the wings listed in the Red Book overwinter where the polluting stain spread this time. They can only die if they get through a patch of pollutants.
“One spoon is enough to do irreparable damage to a bird.” When oil is smeared, these birds lose their resistance to water and simply freeze and get wet, because the feathers become permeable to water and gradually wash or land on their own .
The Baltic Sea is one of the five most polluted seas in the world. Scientists are also unveiling another problem opened up by the oil spill. According to them, there is no animal rescue plan after the ecological disaster in Lithuania. You must specify who will collect, clean and care for contaminated animals and who will dispose of dead animals. Both Estonians and Finns, as well as most other Western European countries, have such plans.
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