AUTHORITIES were yesterday trying to determine the source of a fuel leak, which caused small-scale pollution on a Limassol beach.
The state lab said the fuel, which was spotted on Sunday on the beach near the former Theodhosiou warehouse, was a mixture of leaded petrol and motor oil.
But although still unsure, authorities suspect the leak could have originated from a petrol station across the road.
Yesterday, they opened a hole in front of the station in an effort to locate the exact source of the fuel leak on the beach.
The director of the municipality’s environmental service, Nicos Georghiades, said there was no danger of sea pollution, adding that the quantity of fuel on the beach was small.
Assistant district officer Yiannakis Monoyios said the fuel found on the beach had not been there for a long time.
Crews have already started pumping the fuel from the beach.
Fisheries department sea pollution expert Loizos Loizides said on Tuesday that there would not be any leak into the sea because the fuel floated on the area’s waterbed and could not be channeled to the sea.
Loizides also assured that there was no danger of fire.
The investigation into the affair started on Monday after complaints by the public about a strong smell of fuel in the area.
A probing hole was opened on the beach, revealing a small pool of fuel mixed with water.
On Tuesday, the electro-mechanical services carried out checks at two petrol stations in the area.
The incident follows a similar case in April, again in Limassol, which is still under investigation.
Residents of Serifos Street in Zakaki are still waiting for answers concerning the large amount of fuel, which apparently leaked from a nearby petrol station and accumulated on the waterbed under their homes.
All boreholes in the area have been sealed, but almost three months on, the residents are still waiting for the authorities to tell them how they plan to deal with the matter.
The investigation found that the fuel came from the underground tanks of a nearby petrol station, whose owner said he has lost fuel worth over £150,000.
According to residents, the owner had complained in the past that fuel had gone missing from his tanks.
He suspected someone was stealing the fuel and around a month ago the station was closed for a few days in order to carry out checks.
The fault was apparently fixed but not before huge quantities of fuel had seeped into the underground waters.
