Costa Concordia oil spill 'nothing to worry about'

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/20/costa-concordia-oil-spill-italy-giglio

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The operation to remove the Costa Concordia from the island of Giglio in Italy has caused a small oil spill, officials say.

The removal operation team said "a small amount of hydrocarbons" had been spotted late on Saturday. Salvage workers started cleaning up the spill on Sunday.

Maria Sargentini, head of the government's environmental supervisory committee for the project, told reporters on the island that the spill was "nothing to worry about".

Greenpeace had warned of the possibility of toxic waste spilling out of the ship as it was floated and towed away.

The Costa Concordia is due to be dragged away on Tuesday from Giglio Island, where it crashed on the night of 13 January 2012, killing 32 people. The ship's final journey on its way to be scrapped in the north-western port of Genoa is expected to take four days.

Salvage workers began refloating the ship on 14 July. The name of the ship is now visible above the waterline, as well as part of the bow.

Objects that had been inside the wreck for two-and-a-half years, including suitcases, clothes and furniture, have begun to spill out into the sea and are washing up ashore.