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Friday, September 22, 2006
Barge carrying oil sludge departs Guimaras
ILOILO CITY -- The barge that carries the first batch of oil sludge collected from the shorelines of Guimaras left Thursday as Malacañang reported that the sunken oil tanker continues to leak bunker oil.
Nueva Valencia Mayor Diosdado Gonzaga said "Carmen" left Thursday with 500 tons of oil sludge. It is set to arrive in Misamis Oriental on Saturday where the sludge will be hauled.
The barge will return to Guimaras as soon as the sludge is unloaded. Two more barges are on stand by in the island-province as there is still much oil sludge that needs to be collected.
While clean-up operations continue, Presidential Adviser for Western Visayas Rafael Coscolluela said the sunken tanker still releases minimal bunker oil, which comes out every few seconds in the surface.
"The estimate is about 120 liters a day of minimal leakage," Coscolluela told a press briefing in Camp Aguinaldo held by the Task Force Guimaras, an interim body chaired by Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz.
He said the oil leakage from Solar I is promptly treated with dispersant chemicals by three tugboats of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) stationed at the area as soon as the oil reaches the surface.
"We would like to call the situation as under control but of course everyone is in concerned about the need to eventually recover all the oil from the bottom," Coscolluela however said of the oil remaining in the sunken ship.
Doubt
On the other hand, Akbayan party-list Representative Loretta Ann Rosales has expressed doubt on the veracity of the Department of Health (DOH) findings indicating high levels of hydrogen sulfide, a highly toxic gas, present in three villages affected by the oil spill in Guimaras.
Rosales said if the report was accurate then it shows that the lives of the residents in three affected villages are in danger.
She said it is necessary for the House to check the report.
The report had showed that the level of hydrogen sulfide in the air in Cabalagnan was 537.9 to 2,145 parts per million (ppm) while in La Paz was 13.2 to 165 ppm. According to Rosales, the values obtained in the report signed by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III are "way beyond" the Immediate Danger to Life and Health limit of 100 ppm and exposure to 700 ppm could kill the residents of Barangays Cabalagnan, La Paz and Tando.
"It traces the question of the credibility of the DOH in evaluating the measurement," Rosales said.
At the same time, the legislator blamed the lack of funds of the department and the "endemic" corruption in the government, which are considered factors why government agencies' reports are not that dependable.
For their part, Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara, Jr. and North Cotabato Representative Emmylou Taliño-Santos asked the DOH to explain the findings.
"The DOH must proceed with utmost caution and ensure that its tests are accurate since the threat to life and health of Guimaras residents is highly important," said Angara.
Guimaras Governor Rahman Nava in a radio interview said based on the test conducted by the Toxicity Management Department, the source of drinking water in Barangay Tando "it is contaminated with aromatic hydrocarbons".
Residents were advised to refrain from using the contaminated water and the local government is providing the barangay folks with the needed water. The governor said that he is looking for resources to guarantee safe drinking water for the affected areas.
Nava, meanwhile, hopes that the team committed by the International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) to recover the remaining bunker fuel inside the sunken tanker will arrive in six-weeks-time.
The IOPC will send a team with their corresponding equipment and vessels needed to siphon off the oil from the sunken tanker.
"While we are waiting that to happen," Nava said, "we are busy pushing through with our mitigating measures like making modified spill booms and extending relief operations in critical areas of the province." (Sun.Star Iloilo/Sunnex)
(September 22, 2006 issue)
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