site.btaRuse Institutions Will Practice How to Respond to Hypothetical Danube Fuel Spill from On-shore Loading Pipe

Over 10 institutions in Ruse will practice how to respond to a hypothetical fuel spill on the Danube River caused by a malfunctioning on-shore fuel-loading pipe during an exercise on May 28, the regional government said in a press release on Sunday. “In addition to testing how quickly and effectively we can respond to a possible real-life emergency, the exercise is intended to improve coordination among all responsible institutions and services in case of a fuel spill,” Governor Dragomir Draganov said.

Draganov and his deputy Georgi Georgiev led a theoretical training session ahead of the upcoming exercise. Preventing oil pollution in a protected area of Europe’s NATURA 2000 network is one of the things to be practiced on Wednesday.

The exercise, named Danube 2025, will start at 10 AM in the aquatory of the Port of Ruse (off the village of Sandrovo and close to Aleko Island). The organizers will simulate an accident in which an on-shore pipe breaks while feeding diesel oil into a barge tanker with a capacity to hold 1,800 tonnes of fuel, thus causing an uncontrollable outflow of diesel oil into the river. The participants will also practice mechanical clearing of fuel which has soaked into the ground, and using sorbents to ameliorate the riverbank.

Rescue agencies, the Danube maintenance service, the port infrastructure authority, the border police, the fire safety directorate, municipal government representatives and volunteers will take part in Danube 2025. All environmental standards will be observed to avoid an actual fuel spill during the exercise. The event is organized by order of Governor Draganov, the press release said.