GRAMZOW (dpa-AFX) – The repaired pipeline from Rostock to Schwedt is back in operation after hundreds of thousands of liters of oil escaped from a leak. “After the affected parts of the pipeline were examined by the TÜV, we received approval from the supervisory authority to restart operations,” said the PCK oil refinery.
On Saturday around 10 p.m. the Schwedt-Rostock pipeline was put back into operation after an 80-hour outage. It was initially unclear whether the contaminated soil had been removed.
In one of the largest oil accidents in recent years last Wednesday, at least 200,000 liters of oil leaked during preparatory work for a safety test near Gramzow in the Uckermark in northeast Brandenburg. The leak was only sealed after several hours. According to the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Ministry of the Environment, two securing bolts had come loose for reasons that were still unclear.
Central supply line for the Schwedt refinery
According to the Brandenburg Ministry of the Environment, more than two hectares of fields were sprayed with oil – that’s roughly the size of two football fields. Environmentalists had expressed concern. However, the supply of fuel and heating oil to Berlin and Brandenburg was not at risk.
The 200-kilometer-long line from the port of Rostock to Schwedt has been the central supply artery for the refinery since 2023. It supplies large parts of the northeast and Berlin with fuel, heating oil and kerosene. For almost 60 years, the refinery in Uckermark only received Russian oil via the “Druzhba” pipeline. That ended in 2023 because of the sanctions against Russia, there were other sources of supply./vr/DP/he