By IANS,
Valencia (Spain) : An oil spill, more than three kilometres long, was detected off this Mediterranean coastal city of Spain, EFE news agency reported.
“The spill is separating into smaller slicks that threaten to reach the coastline,” officials said Wednesday.
Several boats, maritime barriers and a small plane with infrared lights were deployed Tuesday morning for cleaning up the spill the origin of which was not known, the agency said.
The spill has broken up into three or four slicks that have drifted apart, causing the authorities to change the strategy by sending small boats to skim off the slicks individually.
The switch in strategy was adopted due to the failure of the first maritime barriers installed to block the fuel slicks heading for the beach, a government spokesman said
The incident created a situation that was “serious, but not alarming,” he said.
Valencia is Spain’s third-largest city.