Several tons of oil feared spilled in Lithuania

Mazeikiu Nafta's Birzai oil pipeline leaked up to several tons of oil early on July 29 some four kilometers from the Lithuanian-Latvian border, but emergency officials said they had managed to stem the flow by evening.

The leak in Birzai's pipeline in the Rokiskis district in northwestern Lithuania alarmed clean-up officials on both sides of the border. None would say exactly how much oil was spilled, though some speculated that it could be several tons.

"The leak has been temporarily stopped and efforts are now being made to mend the pipe properly," said Tadas Augustauskas, head of Mazeikiu Nafta information service.

Mazeikiu Nafta officials said they expected to clean up the oil by the end of the week.

Augustauskas said the leaking pipe, which is directed to the Latvian town of Ventspils, had not been in use recently because oil supplies to Latvia had not been scheduled.

"The oil supply target for July had been reached and the supply had to be resumed on Aug. 1. Specialists are making every effort to mend the pipe by that date," he said.

Firefighters reported the accident at 9:35 a.m. According to the Fire Rescue and Prevention Department, the pipeline leaked in its 186th kilometer. The accident occurred close to the road between Obeliai-Subate.

The contaminated grassy area is roughly 30 acres. To prevent a fire, electricity was disconnected in a high-tension line not far off the oil pipeline, due to which a customs house nearby was also left without electricity. Fire fighters covered the spillage with special foam.

The pipeline is about one kilometer away from a group of residential houses, but firefighters said they were in no danger and the residents would not be evacuated.

The Polotsk-Birzai-Mazeikiai pipeline was built in 1979. Capable of handling 14 million tons of oil per year, the pipeline covers 225.5 kilometers of Lithuanian territory. Oil is transported to Lithuania via two main pipelines from Novopolotsk, Belarus, to Birzai.

From here, one 220-kilometer-long pipe shoots off to Mazeikiu Nafta's oil refinery and the other to Ventspils.