AROUND 17,000 litres of an oily substance, probably crude oil, leaked into the Danube River on June 12 from a tugboat anchored at the Malé Pálenisko trans-shipment terminal at Bratislava’s Winter Port. Initial reports were that the substance leaked from a damaged pumping pipe, the TASR newswire reported.
A total of 19 fire engines and 39 fire fighters were deployed to tackle the oil spill after an alarm was raised by the employee who was pumping the oil into the vessel early on the morning of June 12.
The oil flowed not only into the Danube but also spread to its tributary, the Little Danube, and was stopped from spreading further by a barrier near the village of Zálesie, the Sme daily reported. The police have started a criminal investigation into violation of water and air protection laws, TASR wrote.
