Lake in Turkey Covered with Oil Layer Due to NATO Tanker Accident

The lake of Sapanca in western Turkey has been covered with a thick layer of fuel oil due to an accident involving a NATO oil tanker, reported the Milliyet newspaper.

The oil spill occurred after a branch of the NATO oil pipeline was damaged during road construction works in Kocaeli province, causing fuel to flow into the lake, which provides clean water to 4-5 million people, the newspaper informed.

Authorities have begun to mitigate the aftermath of the accident by deploying floating barriers. The local water and sewage administration has assured that the contaminated part of the lake is far from the water intake points, thus citizens have no reason to be concerned for their health.

The NATO oil pipeline, which spans over three thousand kilometers, caters to the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces and NATO troops.