Environmentalists warned that floodwaters in southern Ukraine are likely polluted with toxic chemicals after Ukrainian officials said 150 tons of machine oil from an engine room at the Kakhovka dam spilled into the Dnipro River when the structure was destroyed on Tuesday.
The officials said that there were 450 tons of machine oil in the engine room when the massive hydroelectric dam was destroyed and that the remaining 300 tons were also at risk of leaking into the river.
Prayers up that wiser minds prevail here, and protecting the people as well as the environment takes precedence over further destruction with the goal of winning. Nobody is going to "win" this one, friends. Everybody loses. US Out.
Yuliia Spinova, head of research with the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group, said that at hydroelectric power plants, turbines and other mechanical devices that convert torque into electrical energy contain multiple materials, including lubricants.
“These materials are quite toxic,” Ms. Spinova wrote in an email.
According to a report by the group, the oil and other materials can form a film on the water’s surface and may pose a danger to humans and wildlife.
The flooding of inhabited areas also releases contaminates from sewage pits, farmland where agrochemicals and pesticides are stored, cemeteries, and gas stations. Those sources will also pollute the torrent of water that is flowing into the Dnipro River and then into the Black Sea.
Sofia Sadogurska, a marine biologist, said that the area around the dam contains several national parks and protected areas, with a rich biodiversity that could be affected by the pollution.
“This is a real catastrophe,” Ms. Spinova wrote.
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