Monday, April 02, 2007 Oil recovery operations end next week: Cosculluela
PRESIDENTIAL Adviser for Western Visayas, Secretary Rafael Coscolluela expressed confidence that the oil recovery operations from the sunken MT Solar I in Guimaras Strait will be completed early next week.
Coscolluela said this during Friday's press briefing. Once this operation is over, the second phase of rehabilitation for the affected areas in Guimaras will be the focus of various government and private sectors.
He said the Allied Shield vessel of the Sonsub, an Italian firm hired for the recovery operation, has recovered minimal oil from the past several days of underwater retrieval operations.
Assisting in the oil retrieval operations is the Philippine Coast Guard, which established a one-kilometer exclusion zone in order to secure the area.
On the other hand, Carlos Tan of Petron said they will continue with their rehabilitation efforts in Guimaras for as long as they are needed.
He cited some of the latest Petron efforts in Guimaras like the groundbreaking of the Petron School in Tando and the Library Hub in San Miguel, Jordan.
It will be recalled that MT Solar I carrying tons of oil sank off Guimaras Strait in August 2006. The tanker, which was carrying 2,000 tons of fuel oil, sunk to a depth of 640 meters.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo visited the island province on several occasions and directed concerned agencies to seek all the necessary assistance, domestic or international, and extend the necessary relief and livelihood aid to the affected communities.
Massive clean up operations and several forms of assistance were extended both by the government, private, domestic and international institutions to mitigate the effects of oils pill to human and marine life.
The International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund responded also through a multi-million peso payments to persons affected by the oil spill.
Goodbye sunken vessel
It is then time to bid goodbye to sunken M/T Solar 1, as there is no chance of retrieval.
Tan said Solar 1 will be left forever underwater. The reason: salvage means millions of pesos.
More or less P10 million per day, which is much higher and expensive to its insurance worth, should be spent for retrieval.
"So it's better to pay its insurance than to retrieve it," Tan said.
In the recent operation, done by the Sonsub Vessel Allied Shield considered as the final phase of operations, indicate that eight tanks have already penetrated and at least 5,000 liters have been recovered. They believed no amount of bunker fuel was left.
"Oil recovery experts since before, have said that based on the amount that was spilled onshore, it is possible that Solar 1 is already empty," Tan said.
It was learned that 1.6 liters of bunker fuel have been taken out based on the recovered bunker fuel.
On the other hand, Petron -- owner of the oil on board Solar 1 -- has been actively involved in the clean up and rehabilitation on affected areas of Guimaras.
Employee volunteers teamed up with local residents to clan about 140 kilometers of the shoreline and collected 6,000 metric tons of oil debris.
The company also conducted numerous relief and medical missions in affected barangays.
They are also completing the payments to the claimants in Guimaras and includes towns of in Iloilo like Ajuy, Concepcion, Miag-ao, Barotac Nuevo, Barotac Viejo, Dumangas, Banate, Oton and Iloilo City with a total allocated budget of P867 million. (RPS/With PIA)
