Collapse of Ukraine’s Nova Kakhovka dam an ‘ecological catastrophe’

CNN
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The collapse of the Nova Kakhovka Dam in southern Ukraine has raised concerns about an ecological catastrophe, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky describing the situation as an “environmental bomb of mass destruction.”

After the destruction of a Russian-occupied dam and hydroelectric power station early Tuesday morning, water levels continued to rise on Wednesday, forcing more than 1,400 people to flee their homes and flooding towns, cities and farmlands, leaving vital water sources untouched. supply is threatened.

Kiev and Moscow have exchanged accusations over the destruction of the dam without providing concrete evidence that the other side was responsible. It is not yet clear whether the dam was deliberately attacked or if it burst as a result of a structural failure.

But President Zelensky said Russia had “criminal responsibility” and that the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office was investigating the dam case as an “environmental crime” case.

“The consequences of the tragedy will be known within a week. When the water runs out, we will know what is left and what will happen next,” he said.

Concerns have now shifted to hazards to wildlife, farmland, settlements and water supplies from flooding, and possible contamination from industrial chemicals and oil leaking into the Dnipro from hydroelectric power plants.

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The head of Ukraine’s main hydropower company told CNN that the environmental impact of the intrusion was “significant” and oil could be leaking from damaged equipment at the power plant.

“First of all, we understand that the Kakhovka Reservoir will likely have zero drainage and the fish population will gradually decline,” said Ihor Shirota, CEO of Ukurhydro Energy. Told.

“There are always 400 tons of turbine oil in the units and block transformers that are typically installed in this equipment,” Sirota said. “It all depends on the level of destruction of the unit and this equipment…if the damage is extensive, all the oil will leak out.”

Ukraine’s Environment Minister Ruslan Strilets said the dam had spilled at least 150 tons of oil into the Dnipro River, with environmental damage estimated at 50 million euros ($53.8 million), according to Reuters.

Strilets said downstream wildlife species not found anywhere else in the world, such as the sandblind mole rat, are at risk. He added that Ukraine’s Black Sea Biosphere Reserve and two national parks could also be heavily damaged.

Flooding has already killed 300 animals at the Nova Kakhovka Zoo, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said Tuesday that the dam failure was an “ecological catastrophe” with the destruction of newly planted crops and massive flooding, and “another devastating step in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.” result,” he said.

Before its collapse, the important Nova Kakhovka Dam was Ukraine’s largest reservoir in terms of volume.

It is the last cascade of six Soviet-era dams on the Dnipro River, the main waterway through southeastern Ukraine, supplying most of southeastern Ukraine and the Crimea peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. was doing.

Downstream are several towns and cities, including Kherson, a city of about 300,000 before Moscow invaded neighboring countries.

Speaking at the UN Security Council on Tuesday, UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said the collapse was perhaps the “most significant incident of damage to civilian infrastructure” since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.

According to Griffiths, the dam is a lifeline for the region, an important source of water for millions of people in the Kherson, Dnipro and Zaporizhia regions, a major source of agricultural irrigation in southern Kherson and the Crimean peninsula, and an important source of agriculture. and food production.

Serious impacts are also expected in Russian-occupied territories, where humanitarian agencies continue to struggle to gain access, he added.

“The damage caused by the destruction of the dam means that the lives of people already suffering from conflict will be made excruciatingly difficult,” Griffiths said.

Zelensky said 35 to 80 settlements were expected to be flooded by the rupture, and aid efforts were continuing to deliver drinking water, hygiene kits and other supplies to affected areas.

In the low-lying district of Kherson, local CNN reporters witnessed residents carrying their belongings and pets fleeing their homes as rising floodwaters seeped through a block in less than an hour.

As the region is on the front lines of conflict, rising waters have increased the risk of contamination from mines and explosives.

“There are mines floating here, and the area is under constant artillery fire, so this is a water element and at the same time a mine hazard,” said the Kherson Regional Military, which oversees the rescue operation. Chief Executive Oleksandr Prokudin said.

Griffiths said projectiles like landmines could be relocated to areas previously assessed as safe.

Mohammad Heydarzadeh, senior lecturer in the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the University of Bath, UK, said the Kakhovka Reservoir is one of the world’s largest dams in terms of capacity.

“It is clear that the collapse of this dam will certainly have long-term adverse ecological and environmental consequences not only for Ukraine but also for neighboring countries and regions,” Heydarzadeh told the Science Media Center on Tuesday. He added that the facility was an “embankment”. This means that the dam is made of gravel and rock, with a clay core in the middle.

“This type of dam is very fragile and is usually washed away quickly when a partial failure occurs. The damage is enough to completely collapse the dam, “just a few hours,” he added.

Both Moscow and Kiev condemned each other for the destruction of the dam, but noted the humanitarian and environmental impact.

Russia-appointed deputy governor of Kherson province, Vladimir Saldo, said the dam failure would have allowed “significant but not fatal” amounts of water to flow into the Dnipro river, resulting in the loss of coastal farmland and the loss of civilian life. said confused. infrastructure.

Russia’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the dam failure “caused devastating damage to the region’s agricultural lands and the ecosystem of the Dnieper estuary.”

“The inevitable lowering of the water level of the Kakhovka Reservoir will affect Crimea’s water supply and hamper agricultural land improvement in the Kherson region,” said the report.

Efforts are being made to conserve water in several regions of Ukraine that receive part of their water supply from the Nova Kakhovka Dam reservoir.

In the Dnipropetrovsk region, where about 70% of the city of Kryvi Rif was supplied by the reservoir, Ukrainian authorities demanded citizens to “stockpile industrial and drinking water”, limiting consumption and hosing businesses. demanded a ban on the use of

This reservoir also supplies water to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant upstream.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the plant has “no immediate nuclear safety risks”, but water from the reservoir is used to cool the reactor and emergency diesel generators.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said UN nuclear observer officials on the ground said the reservoir was being drained at a rate of five centimeters (two inches) an hour, and that the water used to cool the mainline could be kept for “several days.” is estimated to continue,” he said. ”

But if the reservoir falls below the pumping level, “there are many alternative water sources,” Grossi said, adding that the main source is “a large cooling pond adjacent to the site.”

“The pond is estimated to be sufficient to provide cooling water for several months,” he added.