Oil spills from pipeline at Latvian port

Riga: Some 500 litres of crude oil spilled from a disused pipeline into a river at the Latvian port of Ventspils, authorities said.

Ventspils Naftas Terminals stevedore, which owns the pipeline, informed that the oil spilled into the port's waters on Tuesday afternoon but that further leakage had been prevented, Xinhua reported.

The total amount of crude oil that has leaked from the pipeline is not known at the moment. Provisional estimates by the Latvian State Environmental Service suggest that the pollution is not large.

Ventspils Naftas Terminals is working with environmental and rescue services to clean up the oil spill. Two ships with water treatment equipment on board have been involved in the clean-up operation.