Monday, August 07, 2006
Oil spill alarms Cebu town fishers
By Mia E. Abellana
CEBU CITY -- An oil spill reportedly covering 100 hectares of Barangay Sangat, San Fernando town’s seawaters has concerned fishermen in the southern Cebu town.
A police official said he saw children swimming with black smudges on their faces and hair.
But the shipyard where the spill was believed to have occurred refused him entry when he tried to investigate.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Joselito Ruiz discovered the spill Saturday afternoon when he was aboard a helicopter from Dumaguete City.
He sent a text message informing Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Director Vicente Loot of the “big black blotch” in the sea.
The pilot told him the spill was not there the day before.
Loot immediately sent Senior Inspector Ramon Ortiz, San Fernando Police chief, to investigate.
Ortiz said that when he and his men went to Trigon Shipyard last Saturday afternoon, they were barred from entering the compound.
He was told to seek permission from the shipyard’s main office on T. Padilla St., Cebu City.
Ortiz said he argued that it would be impractical for him to go all the way to Cebu City, some 29 kilometers away, when he wanted to check the premises of the shipyard there.
He told the workers to call their superiors and inform them of his request.
Because he was made to wait more than 25 minutes, Ortiz said he and his men decided to go around the compound.
Fishermen told him that the oil came from one of the ships docked at the shipyard.
As of Saturday, there were 10 ships inside the shipyard.
A swift response is critical when oil spills occur, according to guidelines developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
The guidelines state: “When an oil spill occurs at sea, it is critical to contain the spill as quickly as possible to minimize danger and potential damage to persons, property, and natural resources. Containment equipment is used to restrict the spread of oil and to allow for its recovery, removal, or dispersal. The most common type of equipment used to control the spread of oil is floating barriers, called booms.”
Booms are used to control the spread of oil and to reduce the possibility of polluting shorelines, as well as to concentrate oil in thicker surface layers, making recovery easier. Booms may also be used to divert and channel oil slicks along desired paths, making them easier to remove from the surface of the water, the guidelines also state.
A Sun.Star news team also tried to check the site Sunday, but was barred from entering.
The news team was told that this was the instruction of the management, and that even a team from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources was not allowed inside the premises Sunday morning.
The spill, though, was not as evident as Ortiz had described.
Ortiz plans to coordinate with the Philippine Coast Guard and Maritime Industry Authority (Marina), saying he lacks knowledge on environmental laws and needs advice on how to handle such things.
He will also bring up the incident in their morning conference with Loot on Monday.
Ortiz said he likewise informed Mayor Antonio Canoy, but the latter is out of the country.
In the meantime, he submitted a report to the CPPO stating that he saw “positive traces of oil left along the shoreline and sea...near Trigon Shipyard.” (Sun.Star Cebu)
(August 7, 2006 issue)
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