LITHUANIAN COAST CLEARED OF OIL TERMINAL INCIDENT FALLOUT








VILNIUS, March 9. /Vitautas Mikulicius, RIA Novosti Correspondent/. The fallout of the oil terminal incident has been virtually cleared from Lithuanian seashore. The remaining oil patches are now being collected from neutral waters, spokespeople for the emergency service operating in Latvian and Lithuanian territorial waters said Friday.


	The incident took place Tuesday. A mooring rope broke at the Butinga oil terminal, with a pumping hose feeding oil into a Norwegian tanker following suit. The automatics did not work, leading to 300 kilograms of raw oil spilling into the sea.


	Along the coast, the fallout of the incident was cleared within two days by oil collector planes. The remaining film floating on the water surface was neutralized with a special liquid agent.


	A panel has been set up in Butinga to investigate the causes of the incident. By March 13, it is to draw up a report assessing the damage done to the environment.


	The Butinga oil terminal began to operate in 1999. The first incident with oil pumping happened two weeks later, with a mooring rope breaking too. However, back then, the automatics shut the hose lock and no spill took place.