Hundreds of bags of red pepper wash up on beach near Bulgaria’s Sinemorets

Hundreds of bags of red pepper have washed up on the beach near the village of Sinemorets on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, Tsarevo municipality’s mayor Marin Kirov said on November 8.

Officials from the Regional Inspectorate for Environment Protection and Water in Bourgas and the Basin Directorate are taking samples of the sea water near Sinemorets to determine if there is any pollution.

According to the Bourgas district administration, the cargo was likely transported in a shipping container that opened at sea and currents carried the sacks to shore.

The incident also follows recent incidents of drones sinking or severely damaging merchant ships off Bulgaria’s coast, in attacks widely blamed on Russia.

The results of the checks on the sea water are expected next week. However, reaching the beach is a serious challenge for the inspectors themselves, as they have to walk nearly two kilometres through difficult terrain.

Kirov, in a post on Facebook, said that although though the beaches are exclusive state property, “we fully recognise the gravity of the situation regarding the hundreds of sacks of red pepper found on an undeveloped beach in Sinemorets”.

He said that the municipality was in constant contact with the district governor, and would assist in the cleanup of the beach.

“Naturally, I would like to make a point: such incidents are likely to become more frequent, and a formal mechanism for cleaning the coastline needs to be established,” Kirov said.

“Should this recur—given that the sea frequently washes various types of cargo onto our beaches and rocky shores—the state must allocate funds to the Bourgas district administration to cover these cleanup operations,” he said.

(Photo via Kirov’s Facebook page)