Oil residue covers blue-flag beach in Turkey

İZMIR

AA Photo

Oil and mud residue cover İzmir’s Çandarlı beach two months after it received the prestigious blue flag award, daily Radikal reported.

The leak reportedly came from a ship in the Aliağa region awaiting disassembly, when heavy storms caused the waiting ships to crash. Oil began to leak through a 4-meter-deep crack on the side of a ship named Alba, which was damaged in the collision. About five days after the leak began, oil mud found its way to the Çandarlı shore.

Eight to 10 tons of oil mud was released into the water, daily Radikal reported. The three-kilometer shoreline turned black soon after, alarming officials.

Inspections were conducted over the affected area, and samples were collected from the water. Barriers were built by the shoreline to block the spread of the oil.

Çandarlı Mayor Ahmet Dağdelen told daily Radikal that it would be impossible to restore the beach’s reputation after such a devastating event.

“It will be difficult to clear the image from people’s minds,” Dağdelen said. “We have just received our blue flag. And then this happened. There will be further inspections for the blue flag now.”

The owner of the Alba, however, denied the reports claiming the leak was from his ship.

“There are over 150 ships in Aliağa that are waiting to be dismantled,” Cevdet Temurtaş said. “There were multiple ships who were hit by the storm that night. The residue could have come from other ships as well or from the open water.”