site.btaEnvironment and Water Ministry: No Pollution in Bulgarian Black Sea Area

There is no pollution of the Bulgarian water area of the Black Sea in the aftermath of the destruction of the wall of the Nova Kakhovka dam, said the Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW) on Monday. The data are from the digital modeling of the Center for Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Monitoring at the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy (NVNA). The Ministry is regularly monitoring the sea water situation after the collapse of the wall of the Nova Kakhovka dam.

The prevailing southerly wind in recent days is suppressing and directing the waters of the Dnieper, Dniester and Danube rivers - below and above the Danube Delta, in a northerly direction. In turn, the water of the Danube is also suppressing and directing the waters of the other two rivers in a northerly direction. This delays the Dnieper waters reaching the territorial waters of Bulgaria, the Ministry said.

The Black Sea Basin Directorate and the Regional Laboratory - Varna of the Executive Environmental Agency monitor the state of the Black Sea waters on a weekly basis at three additional points in the coastal zone (Durankulak coast, Shabla coast and Kaliakra coast), which were designated in response to the new situation.

The sampling results carried out on June 19 in the Bulgarian Black Sea area show that no exceedances were detected at the Durankulak point. Minor exceedances were found for copper at Shabla coast and Kaliakra coast; for zinc and aluminium at Kaliakra coast. Given the data on the speed and direction of sea currents as of June 19, the exceedances in question cannot be linked to the Nova Kakhovka dam incident. The data for the other metals tested were either below the method detection limit or below the relevant environmental quality standard.

The MoEW is in constant exchange of information with the Ukrainian, Moldovan and Romanian authorities on potential contamination of the Black Sea waters. The radiation background in the Odessa region is within normal limits, the Bulgarian Embassy in Kyiv informed in its regular information sent to the Ministry. Up-to-date information on the results of the measurements is provided to the competent institutions and the public in due time.