Kyiv contains oil spill in lake caused by Russian strike, no threat to Dnipro reported – photos
Municipal services and emergency crews in Kyiv have contained pollution in Kyrylivske Lake in the city's Obolonskyi district, which was caused by a Russian attack on 2 July.
Source: Kyiv City State Administration's Department of Environmental Protection and Climate Change Adaptation
Quote: "The pollution occurred after an industrial facility was damaged, allowing oil products to enter the Syrets stream through the stormwater drainage system before flowing into Kyrylivske Lake.
Thanks to the prompt response of municipal services and emergency crews, the pollution has been contained. Ongoing monitoring has detected no oil products in the Pochaina River, meaning there is currently no threat to the Dnipro River."
Details: According to early estimates, it will take around five more days to remove the bulk of the oil products.
Four floating containment boom systems have been installed, successfully confining the pollution to about one-third of the lake's surface area. This has also allowed wildlife to move to less contaminated parts of the lake.
Special attention has been paid to protecting neighbouring bodies of water.
The department said, citing experts, that the oil products remain on the surface of the water, meaning there is currently no risk of groundwater contamination.
Some isolated cases of dead aquatic plants and animals have been recorded, but there has been no mass die-off. Once the clean-up operation is completed, the authorities plan to implement restoration measures, including water aeration and restocking the lake with fish.
The department stressed that Kyrylivske Lake is a technical reservoir where swimming had been prohibited even before the incident. Following the contamination, all activities on the lake, including fishing, will remain strictly prohibited at least until the end of the summer.
People living nearby have also been advised to keep windows closed where possible and to avoid spending time near the shoreline until the clean-up is complete, due to evaporating fuel and lubricants.
Background:
- Oil pollution was detected in the Opechen lake system in Kyiv's Obolonskyi district following Russia's combined overnight attack on the capital on 2 July.
- According to the Ministry of Economy, more than 350 tonnes of oil products and oil emulsion entered Kyrylivske Lake.
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