BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

26/03/2007

Latvia on alert as Belarusian oil spill nears border

Riga- Latvia's emergency services were on high alert Monday as an oil spill in Belarus flowed along the Daugava river towards the Latvian border. The spill, estimated at more than 100 tons of diesel, began on Friday evening in the Vitebsk region of western Belarus, when a section of pipeline leading to the Latvian port of Ventspils burst and began spilling diesel into the ground.

Belarusian rescue services managed to contain much of the spill, but by mid-afternoon on Saturday an unknown quantity had flowed into the Ulla river, Interfax reported. Approximately 1.2 hectares of land were also contaminated, the wire added.

The Ulla is a Belarusian tributary of the Daugava (known as the Dvina in Russian). The Daugava is Latvia's largest river and flows through both Riga and the country's second city, Daugavpils.

Initial attempts by Latvian rescue services to place preventive booms across the river were hampered by high water levels and rapid currents, the Leta news agency said. Latvia's rivers are running high as a result of the spring thaw and rains.

Latvia and Belarus are linked by Soviet-era pipelines built to carry Russian oil to the ports of the Baltic. However, much of the infrastructure is ageing and in need of repair.

Last summer Russia closed its crude-oil pipeline to Lithuania after a leak. The pipe has not yet reopened.

Source:

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/44110.html