Georgian environmental agency claims sea not polluted due to Kakhovka dam destruction

The Georgian National Environment Agency on Monday claimed the water quality in the country’s Black Sea regions were within the norm, citing latest quality checks following rising concerns that the Nova Kakhovka dam destruction in Ukraine by Russia earlier this month and subsequent pollution could also reach the shores of the sea.  The agency said it monitored the water quality of the Black Sea every month at nine stations, determining main physico-chemical parameters, including salinity, as well as the content of dissolved oxygen, biogenic elements, heavy metals and organic pollutants in the surface and on the bottom.

The agency also informed it was improving its monitoring systems in accordance with the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive, noting the laboratory equipment of modern standards had already been purchased. 

The destruction of the dam in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine on June 6 had unleashed 18 cubic kilometers of water, with thousands of tonnes of debris and toxic waste released.