Liquidation of the oil products spill consequences continues on the Black Sea coast. KNRTU students – Alexander Paigachkin (Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology), Adelya Valitova (Institute of Innovation Management) and Maxim Antonov (Institute of Polymers) went to Anapa to clean up coastal areas and help affected birds.

Alexander and Adelya went to Anapa as part of the All-Russian ecological movement “Ecosystem”, representing the Republican Youth Ecological Movement “It Will Be Clean”. For an entire week, students worked on the beaches of Anapa, sifting sand and cleaning it of solidified oil residues. The most challenging area was the coastal zone between the waves and protective dunes, there petroleum products had already penetrated deep into the sand. In total, their team managed to collect 161 bags of solidified oil residue. “I went to Anapa, because I wanted to help in dealing with this emergency situation. It is a big problem that can only be solved by working together. I was impressed by the scale of volunteer and organizational work, but even more inspired by the team itself: everyone genuinely wanted to help nature and sacrificed with their free time and vacations for it. We did what we could, but the process of sifting sand for heavy oil products needs automation,” said Alexander Paigachkin.

Maxim, along with the delegation of the Republic of Tatarstan, is currently working at the bird sanctuary. Girls from the Veterinary Academy are monitoring the health and treating the birds, while boys are engaged in the construction the second part of the rehabilitation center for the birds. The beach cleanup continues, with many small pieces of fuel oil remaining, which are much harder to collect. We’ve come for two weeks, so we’re trying out different roles and doing our best to help,” remarked Maxim Antonov.

“What struck me the most was the incredible strength of the human spirit. Every day, I witnessed people of all ages and backgrounds coming together and working for the common good. Anapa gave me not only experience, but also hope for a brighter future,” said Adelya Valitova.