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Friday, August 18, 2006
'Clean-up could be done in five months'
ILOILO CITY -- If only the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) and FF Cruz Company would be contracted for the use of their suction dredgers, the oil clean-up in the Guimaras seas would only take four to five months, a Coast Guard officer said Thursday.
Captain Luis Tuason, District Commander of Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in the city, Thursday told Sun.Star that the Coast Guard here has proposed before the consignee, Petron Corporation, to enter into a contract with PPA and FF Cruz on the use of the suction dredgers.
He said, however, that there's no word yet from Petron.
Petron and FF Cruz have the dredgers that can suck as much as 300,000 liters of oil.
About 200,000 liters of oil from the two million liters being transported by motor tanker (M/T) Solar 1, had leaked into the seas in the southern parts of Guimaras Island.
Tuason said the PCG here has two oil dispersant spray ships while the Solar 1 owner, Sunshine Maritime Development Corp., has two oil dispersant tug boats.
So far, 11 drums of dispersant have been used up. Each drum costs P60,000.
The suction dredgers may not clean up the seas entirely, but these can minimize the spread of the oil.
The dredgers can stay in the area where the motor tank sank and suck the oil that is still spilling from the drums. The spraying tug boats, on the other hand, can stop the spread of the slick to the shorelines.
While these are being done, the PCG can look for the equipment that can retrieve the oil barrels from the depths of the sea.
Japan and Indonesia, which are among the countries being consulted on the clean-up, do not have this equipment, Tuason said.
Tuason said the length of affected shorelines cannot be determined yet as the density of the oil that has spilled from the drums varies.
Meanwhile, Guimaras Governor Rahman Nava, in his report to the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council Chairman and Police Regional Director Geary Barias, said 20 coastal barangays of three towns have been reached by the oil slick.
It being declared under a state of calamity, Guimaras has P10 million at its disposal.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources at the same time issued a primer on bunker oil and its effects on health.
Western Visayas Regional Executive Director Julian Amador said bunker fuel is dense, sticky oil produced by blending heavy residual oils with a lighter oil to meet specific needs for thickness and pour point.
It is used in industrial burners worldwide, as well as in internal combustion engines of the compression-ignition type used by certain marine vessels.
The specific gravity of a particular bunker C fuel oil can vary from .95 to greater than 1.03 thus it can float, suspend in the water column or sink. Small changes in water density may dictate whether the oil will sink or float.
Bunker fuel can have little evaporation or dissolution. It has a heavy impact to intertidal areas through coating of sea plants or probable ingestion by waterfowl and fur-bearing mammals. It may also cause long-term sediment contamination and can emulsify water droplets in oil. It weathers very slowly and shoreline clean-up is very difficult under all conditions whether rain or shine.
Bunker oil fumes are irritating to the eyes, nose, mouth and lungs. If burned, bunker oil contributes to global warming and to sulphur-and nitrogen-based gases that cause acid rain. It also clings to ocean floor habitat resulting in collapsing of air space in fur and feathers.
Health of any living thing is in danger once it is contaminated with this oil. It may cause skin dermatitis or contact dermatitis even after washing especially to sensitive persons. It also poses a big risk for skin cancer especially to those who have a close contact with bunker oil and contaminated water/soil. Eating of contaminated fish and shellfish can cause gastro-intestinal upset and other illnesses.
Floating bunker C oil can coat wildlife dwelling on water surface, smothering of inter-tidal organisms, and long-term sediment contamination. Other related adverse effects of this Guimaras Oil Spill may include losses and disruptions of commercial and recreational fisheries, seaweed harvesting, boating, and a variety of other uses of affected water including sea bathing.
Local officials should restrict children and pets from entering into areas containing oil-related waste due to the potential for skin contact and accidental congestion (swallowing) of oil residues. People who develop skin rashes due to contact with oil should avoid exposure to sunlight because it increases its effect. Those who have recently healed wounds or open wounds should avoid exposure to sea water contaminated with this bunker fuel.
"We should always protect ourselves from exposure to water in Guimaras and other areas affected by this bunker fuel. When exposed use oil resistant gloves and boots. If you get oil on skin, immediately wash it with water and soap. Do not bring your oil-contaminated boots and gloves in your residence. Leave it at the workplace. Open doors and windows to ventilate the oil-contaminated houses", Amador said.
Our experience in Semirara Oil spill that had contaminated almost 200 hectares of mangroves, seashores, and seaweed farms having about 300,000 liters of spilt oil was only a minimal six percent o what is happening in Guimaras today.
According to experts, it will take about four yeas to clean the Semirara area and will take more years to rehabilitate the contaminated mangroves.
With 2,000,000 liters of bunker C fuel now being carefully handled by a Task force in Guimaras, we can only hope that God will give us more time and more logistics to contain this spill before the worst scenario will break up.(Sun.Star Iloilo)
RELATED STORIES
DOH warns public to avoid oil spill contact
Fight versus oil spill to cost gov't P700-M
(August 18, 2006 issue)
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Audit agency tells towns--refund, settle