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Philippine oil slick threatens rich fishing grounds
By Joel Nito
AFP
NUEVA VALENCIA, Philippines
Petroleumworld.com 08 25 06
The slick from the Philippines' worst oil disaster is spreading rapidly and is now threatening some of the country's richest fishing grounds, officials warned Friday.
Two weeks after the Solar I tanker sank in heavy seas off the central island of Guimaras, currents are pushing oil towards the islands of Negros and Panay, threatening fish stocks in the bountiful Visayan Sea.
Residents on the northeast coast of Panay, which is around 140 kilometres (90 miles) from where the tanker went down, have reported seeing traces of oil, the civil defence office said Friday.
Oil was also spotted off the west coast of Negros causing at least one town to declare a "state of calamity".
"This is a national calamity that demands the cooperation and solidarity of all Filipinos," President Gloria Arroyo said in a state television broadcast, in which she appealed to Filipinos to contribute "human hair and chicken feathers" to filter out the sludge from threatened beaches.
She said drop-off points would be set up across the country for transport to the affected areas.
Since the tanker sank on August 11, 50,000 gallons of oil has leaked into the sea causing black sludge to be washed up on more than 300 kilometres (180 miles) of coastline on Guimaras. It has wrecked the island's tourism industry and threatened the livelihood of hundreds of fishermen.
However the authorities are involved in a race against time to prevent the remaining 450,000 gallons of oil on the tanker leaking into the sea.
Surveyors from the United States and Japanese coastguards were on the scene to assess the damage and recommend how best to recover the remaining fuel before the tanks burst, the Filipino coastguard said.
A salvage vessel with a remote-controlled mini-submarine from Japan is expected to arrive in the area on Sunday.
Based on the salvage vessel's findings, the charterer, Petron Corp., will decide whether to try to raise the tanker, or siphon off the oil.
Because of a lack of locally available equipment and technology to reach the wreck, believed to be in depths of up to 3,000 feet (900 meters), the focus of the Philippine government's efforts has been damage mitigation.
Coastguard vessels as well as boats provided by Petron are battling the slick with oil spill booms and chemical dispersants.
The aim is to contain the oil, dragged by the northeast current through the strait, before it reaches the open waters of the Visayan Sea, the civil defense office said.
More than 1,000 hectares (more than 2,000 acres) of mangroves and 200 more kilometers of coasts are threatened in Panay and Negros, it added.
The health department has over 60 doctors and nurses in the area treating over 300 people suffering from respiratory problems, skin irritations, coughing and asthma from the oil.
Already one man has died and four people have been hospitalised.
"I am deeply concerned over the mounting health hazards in the communities affected by the oil slick," Arroyo said. "Mobile hospitals would be set up and evacuation procedures will be undertaken as necessary to ease suffering and save lives."
She also urged Petron and the ship's owners to "immediately clean up the mess".
AFP 25 0925 GMT 08 06
Copyright ©2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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