Along the coastal area of the Black Sea in Romania, the following categories of land pollution sources with an impact on water quality and biodiversity in the Black Sea can be identified:
A. Sources of pollution:
- Seaports:
– Port Constanta, Port Mangalia, Port Midia - Economic agents:
– Rompetrol Refining, Midia Project – under development - Wastewater
Wastewater treatment plants
-Constanta Sud Station, Constanta Nord Station, Eforie Sud Station, Mangalia Station
Uncontrolled spills - Danube River:
-Chilia arm, Sulina arm, St. George’s arm - Tourist beaches
the beaches Corbu, Navodari, Mamaia, Constanta, Eforie Nord, Eforie Sud, Neptun, Saturn,
Mangalia, Vama Veche.
1) Pollutants in seaports:
The main sources of pollution in the port of Constanta are:
– the important operators that carry out their activity in the port of Constanţa and in the neighboring areas of the port of Constanţa
- SC “MINMETAL” S.A. with risk of pollution: coke powders and iron ore.
- SC CHIMPEX S.A .; at risk of pollution: pesticides, sulfuric acid, urea, oil residues.
- S.C. ”COMVEX” S.A., with risk of pollution: pubescent coke and iron ore.
- S, C. APM Terminals, with risk of pollution: dust, oil residues
- S.C.Oil Terminal, with risk of pollution: oil residues
These companies operate with petroleum products and bulk powder products and can accidentally causes pollution of the port area with hydrocarbons and dust emissions.
- The existing silos in the port of Constanţa
The silos operate bulk cereals and cause pollution of the port area with dust. The residues that remain after the loading of ships and trucks are taken by the wind and scattered throughout the port system and in the carters in the vicinity of the port of Constanta. - Naval accidents and bunkering activities produced in the port of Constanţa and in the vicinity
The port of Constanţa pollutes the port’s aquarium with spilled fuel and oil residues
Example of a recent naval accident:
Thus, at the beginning of October 2001, the sinking of the Turkish ship “Kaptan Yasar” caused a massive oil pollution of the Black Sea in the area of the disaster. At the time of the sinking, the ship had 11 tons of diesel and 1 ton of mineral oil in its tanks. At the time of immersion, diesel and mineral oil began to drain into the seawater from the storage tanks through their vents, forming a large hydrocarbon spot on the surface of the water.
The spot, measuring approximately 1.5 nautical miles long and one nautical mile wide, moved, due to the speed and direction of the wind, moving slightly away from the Romanian coast in the SE direction. If the direction of the wind and currents in the area had changed, there was a danger that the oil slick would pollute the Romanian coast.
In July 2007 following the sinking of the Multitrader under the Cambodian flag, which was swallowed by the Black Sea near Venus, a 10 km long wave of pollution occurred. On board the ship, at the time of the sinking, were 300 kg of mineral oil and 10 tons of diesel.
Another example is the November 2007 sinking of a Russian oil tanker and four other ships off the Kerch Strait as a result of which 2,000 tons of oil were dumped into the Black Sea. The Russian subsidiary of Greenpeace has warned that this amount of oil could pollute the Black Sea for at least 15 years.
It can be concluded that the pollutants of the seaports in the coastal area of Romania are:
- oil residues
- toxic chemicals -surfactant, insecticides, pesticides
- heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Pb, Ni, Cr)
- inorganic nutrients- nitrates, nitrites, phosphates, ammonia
- industrial, household waste – plastic, wood, cardboard paper, metal
2) Pollutants of economic agents
a) Rompetrol Refining
The activity of this economic company presents the following risks:
- Accidental spills of petrochemicals: fuels, benzene, toluene and oil residues
- Toxic vapor emissions: hydrogen sulfide, benzene, toluene
- Flammable vapor explosions.
3) Wastewater
a) Wastewater treatment plants
Wastewater treatment plants Constanta Sud, Constanta Nord, Eforie Sud and Mangalia.
The effluent flows from the wastewater treatment plants amount to about 52 million tons per year with an average ecological status with the risk of pollution with inorganic nutrients (nitrates, nitrites, phosphates) and heavy metals.
b) Uncontrolled spills
In the Navodari-Mamaia-Constanta-Eforie Nord-Eforie Sud-Neptun area, dozens of effluent flows have been reported which are not recorded and uncontrolled, but which constitute a polluting input, and which may contain accidental discharges from various sources and for sewage sewers.
4) Danube River
The Danube River is the main effluent of the Black Sea and has a water supply of about 208km3 / year, representing over 58% of the total effluents of the Black Sea. The distribution of the total flow through the 3 arms is the following: Chilia arm 60%, Sulina waterway 18% and Sf. Gheorghe arm 22%.
The Danube river basin has an area of 800,000 km2 in which it collects the waters of 120 rivers, hundreds of municipal treatment plants and hundreds of uncontrolled discharges from an area that covers a third of Europe in 20 countries and includes industrial centers and big cities like Regensburg, Passau, Linz Gyor, Zemun, Pancevo, Vidin, Giurgiu, Calarasi, Braila, Galati and capitals large urban agglomerations such as: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Belgrade.
The water quality of the Danube river at its discharge through the 3 arms is of average ecological status, there is a danger of pollution with the following pollutants collected from the entire river basin.
- inorganic nutrients- nitrates, nitrites, phosphates, ammonia
- heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Pb, Ni, Cr)
- oil residues
- pesticides, insecticides
- industrial and household waste
5) Tourist beaches
The tourist beaches Corbu, Navodari, Mamaia, Constanta, Eforie Nord, Eforie Sud, Neptun, Saturn, Mangalia, Vama Veche are always in the summer season sources of household and domestic pollutants such as: paper, textiles, rubber, wood waste, metal waste, bottles and others.
This waste pollutes not only the beaches but also contributes significantly to the contribution of marine waste.
In the MSFD Framework Directive “Strategy for the Marine Environment”, the phrase good ecological status is defined in Art. 5 as follows: “Good ecological status” means the ecological status of marine waters which is defined by the ecological diversity and dynamics of the oceans and seas, which are clean, in good sanitary condition and productive within their intrinsic conditions and by a sustainable use of the marine environment, thus safeguarding its potential for the uses and activities of current and future generations, namely:
(a)the structure, functions and processes of the component marine ecosystems, which together with physiographic, geographical, geological and climatic factors allow the said ecosystems to maintain full functionality and resilience to induced environmental change of man. Marine species and habitats are protected, the decline of due biodiversity is prevented human intervention and the functioning of various biological components is in balance;
(b) the hydromorphological, physical and chemical properties of the ecosystems, including the properties resulting from human activities in the area concerned, support the ecosystems in the manner described above. The intake of substances resulting from human activities and energy, including noise, in the marine environment does not cause polluting effects.
The ecological status of marine water corresponds to the ecological status of marine ecosystems.
Conclusions
In contrast to the requirements of the MSFD Directive – “Strategy for the Marine Environment”, the current reality is that the Black Sea is the most polluted sea in Europe.
The Black Sea has been, for decades, the landfill for agricultural and industrial waste in Southeast Europe and beyond. They had such an impact that scientists considered parts of the sea almost entirely dead.
Significant observations regarding the pollution of the Black Sea:
- 83% of the marine litter found in the Black Sea is plastic, respectively bottles, packaging and bags.
The Danube and the Dniester bring in between 6 and 50 objects per hour. - the amount of marine litter in the Black Sea is almost twice as high as in the Mediterranean Sea (90.5 liters / km2, compared to 50 liters / km2).
- microplastic is present in Black Sea sediments both in the coastal area and at depths of over 2,000 m.
- concentrations of chemicals dangerous to marine and human life exceed their toxicity threshold values. These substances included benzo (a) pyrene, several pesticides, insecticides and also mercury and flame retardants in fish.
- In addition, 124 hazardous chemicals have been identified for the marine ecosystem and human health, including persistent organic pollutants, metals, pesticides, biocides, pharmaceuticals, flame retardants, industrial pollutants and personal care products.
Bibliography:
https://newsweek.ro/sanatate/de-ce-este-marea-neagra-cea-mai-poluata-din-europa
https://www.agir.ro/buletine/935.pdf
https://www.economica.net/comisia-europeana-marea-neagra
Author: Maria Nastac – ECOM Team Romania
