The west coast of Northern Jutland has been hit by oil pollution, according to Hjørring Council.

The oil slick is said to be two metres wide and with various thicknesses over a 30 km stretch.

“This is quite a major pollution event,” Environment Assistant Viggo Larsen of Hjørring Council tells politiken.dk adding that the pollution may have reached as far north as Hirtshals.

“The slick is not that thick, but it is very long and it will take a long time to clean it up. People have seen birds covered in oil and we have asked the Danish Forest and Nature Agency to investigate and put down birds so that they don’t suffer in the cold,” he says, but adds that so far, not too many birds have been found.

Earthquake
The cause of the pollution remains unclear. Larsen says that Admiral Fleet Denmark (SOK), which patrols Danish waters for signs of vessels that may leak oil or jettison tanks, has reported no suspicious vessels.

“They have been out today and yesterday and say they have not found anything suspicious,” Larsen says.

“But I have spoken to some experts who say that it may have been caused by an earthquake that took place some time ago off the Danish coast,” Larsen says adding that an undersea crack may have developed on the seabed, resulting in oil seepage.

An earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale took place on February 19 at 10 p.m. Its epicenter was recorded in the North Sea at a depth of 10 kilometres almost 70 kilometres west of Thisted.

Samples of the oil have been sent for testing, to find out where it came from.