A major wine spill has occurred from a Sonoma County winery in California, USA. On Wednesday, January 22, about 367,000 liters of the alcoholic beverage hit the local Rushen River, CNN reports.
The poured wine was enough to fill 500 thousand bottles. The price of one bottle of this drink is about $ 27.
The reason for the pollution of the river was technical malfunctions at the winery. One of the tanks, in which the wine was treated, gave a strong leak. As soon as the staff noticed a leak, they tried to pump the wine into another tank. The large amount of spilled product stained the maintenance canals and the pond red, overflowing them. The wine fell into a stream and then into a river that flows into the Pacific Ocean.
The spill may temporarily disrupt the ecosystem of the river. Untreated sour wine can kill fish and poison river plants and small inhabitants that feed larger fish. Local activists defending water bodies note that more serious pollutants have also entered the river in the past. About 50 volunteers from a nonprofit organization in Sonoma County volunteered to monitor the condition of the stream and river affected by the unusual spill.
Employees of the California Department of Fisheries and Wildlife investigated the scene. Winery owners face fines for pollution of water sources.
