TIRANA, Nov. 11 – A laborious cleanup is continuing after an oil spill of unknown origin washed ashore, contaminating more than two kilometers of beach shoreline in Durres last weekend.
Investigators have started an investigation looking for the culprits, but no clear suspects have emerged.
The nearby Durres Port is Albania’s largest, and port authorities investigated the ships that passed through or were present at the nearby harbor during that time.
Government officials have banned fishing in the area for the time being, and the National Environment Agency told residents and visitors not to come in contact with the water after their samples showed pollution levels were very high.
Pollution like this has been covering Albanian beaches time and again but not at this high level. Experts say foreign ships sometimes empty their oil tanks in Albanian waters because punishment and enforcement is lighter than in nearby countries.
The Durres municipal authorities called in help from a nearby armed forces base to clean the sand. But the pollution may take months to be cleaned up entirely, according to environmental experts
Durres beaches are some of the country’s most popular host tens of thousands of tourists during the high summer season. They are also home to thousands of residents who live there or who have a flat as a second home in the area.
