Russian scientists criticize cleanup efforts after Black Sea oil spill.
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Experts are criticizing the lack of equipment needed to clean up an estimated 4,300 tons of oil after two tankers were hit by a storm in the Kerch Strait.
Russian scientists have criticized efforts to clean up the oil spill on the Black Sea coast, saying they lack sufficient equipment.
On December 15, two Russian tankers, Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, were hit by a storm in the Kerch Strait, where one sank and the other flooded.
The strait separates southern Russia from Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.
The ships were carrying 9,200 tons of oil, about 40% of which spilled into the sea, according to Russian authorities.
President Vladimir Putin last week called the situation an "ecological disaster." Thousands of volunteers have been mobilized to remove oil-soaked sand from nearby beaches. But scientists say the volunteers lack the necessary equipment.
"There are no bulldozers, no trucks. Almost no heavy machinery," Viktor Danilov-Danilyan said at a news conference.
Danilyan is the scientific director of the Institute of Water Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences and served as Russia's environment minister in the 1990s. The volunteers have only "useless shovels and plastic bags that tear," he explained.
"While the bags are waiting to be finally collected, storms come and end up returning to the sea."
Public criticism of the authorities is rare in Russia.
Almost 30,000 tons have already been recovered, Krasnodar region governor Veniamin Kondratyev said Wednesday.
Sergei Ostakh, a professor at the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, said the oil could soon reach the Crimean coast. "No one should have any illusions that the island will remain clean," he said, calling for swift action.
The oil spill may have killed 21 dolphins, the Delfa Dolphin Rescue Center said, although more tests are needed to confirm the cause of death.
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