Balchik clogged with 50 tonnes of black oil; specialised military equipment is fighting the pollution

Raya Atanasova

“Over 50 tonnes of petroleum products, probably black oil, have been discharged into the sewerage network and reached the water treatment plant in Balchik,” Sava Tiholov, Head of Protocol and PR Department in the municipality, announced yesterday. Work on its collection is still going on. The pollution was established on Saturday when a large amount of petroleum products reached the waste water treatment plant in Balchik through the town’s sewerage network. Some 20 tonnes of thick mass looking like black oil were pumped out then, and another 20 tonnes were pumped out on Sunday.

The local authorities said that none of the responsible institutions – neither the Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water (RIEW), nor the Regional Inspectorate for Protection and Control of Public Health (RIPCPH) - had reacted so far and sent their representatives to the water treatment station to give recommendations for work and provide equipment and experts.

The tank of the naval forces cannot take the entire quantity as its capacity is only 5 tonnes, the equipment is insufficient and the holidays of the environmental institutions may turn out to be too long, commented representatives of the municipality. “This may compromise the operation of the water treatment plant which is one of the most state-of-the-art of its kind in Bulgaria,” explained Tiholov.

The pollution has been prevented and localised in the water treatment plant, the Basin Directorate in Varna told Klassa. RIEW-Varna announced that they will have summarised information about the causes of pollution in the morning. Civil Defence, on its part, said they did not have up-to-date information. “The Papas Sunflower Oil refinery is the probable source of the pollution,” said Balchik’s Mayor Nikolay Angelov, cited by Darik Radio.

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