Sunken tanker continues to leak oil – official

• But says ‘situation under control’

By Joel Guinto
INQ7.net

BUNKER fuel continues to leak from the sunken M/T Solar 1 off Guimaras Island at the rate of 120 liters per day, disaster officials said Thursday.

But the leakage is “minimal” and the fresh spill is sprayed with dispersants from three tugboats once it reaches the surface, said Rafael Coscolluela, presidential adviser and coordinator of government’s Ligtas Guimaras (Safe Guimaras).

The leak, about one foot in diameter, comes out of one of the ship’s busted tanks “every few seconds,” Coscolluela said during a meeting of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) in Camp Aguinaldo.

“[The fresh oil slick] is immediately treated with dispersants. We would call the situation on site under control,” he said.

Coscolluela could not give an official estimate of how much of the two million liters the tanker was carrying has leaked out. Reports said between 200,000 and 1.3 million liters of fuel spilled into the surrounding waters.

But he said the coastal waters off Guimaras have “immensely improved” and are “capable of sustaining marine life.”

(For the full story, click Still leaking, Sept. 21, 2006.)

Petron officials under threat? (Owwws?)

By Maricar M. Calubiran
The News Today

TOP officials of Petron Corporation are under tight watch after suspicious looking personalities are now tailing their movements and monitoring their activities in Guimaras island particularly in the Raymen Resort where they are housed.

This was revealed by Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Chief of the Public Affairs Rhodora Capulso in a press conference Tuesday.

Carlos Tan, Petron’s Health and Safety Manager, confirmed Capulso’s information.

Tan said they were also informed that some people are making inquiries on the resort personnel where they are housed with regard to their identities. The same people are also believed to be monitoring Petron’s officials and personnel whenever they made the rounds in the affected areas in Guimaras.

Petron officials have no detailed security personnel in the island. However, with the information, the group had already sought help from an army unit to protect them and push through with their plans in cleaning up the island of the oil spill.

(For the full story, click TNT.)

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EVER heard of mass hysteria Caloy? Maybe it’s just your collective consciences nagging at you and your colleagues for the equally suspicious activities you guys have been engaged in, that’s giving rise to these visions of boogeymen. What suspicious activities? Well you know, like putting up illegal dumps for the sludge or trying to cover the oil debris with cement to claim a successful cleanup?

But you gotta admit, this is a great excuse for the old unsainted Nick not to visit Guimaras and pay his respects to Gov. Nava, right?

Why a DENR public affairs officer allows herself to be the mouthpiece for this tall tale is actually the bigger question.

Marine expert: Environment benefit analysis should be done in Guimaras shores

By Maricar M. Calubiran
The News Today

A MARINE biologist working for the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) said the second phase of the cleanup operation is more complicated than the first stage which is to remove the industrial fuel oil on the shoreline and affected areas.

Katharina Stanzel, senior technical adviser of the ITOPF said there should be “environment benefit analysis” before implementing any action on the ground. She said there should be a comprehensive study on what to do as they could not just scrape the sand, mangroves or any affected areas.

The ITOPF is a non-profit making organization, involved in all aspects of preparing for and responding to ship-source spills of oil and chemicals in the marine environment. It is based in London.

Stanzel said “you have to weigh the sand before scraping” the remaining bunker fuel. She, would not however comment on whether the process in cleaning up the island with the oil slick is an ideal thing to do while the M/T Solar 1 is still lying on the seabed. “I am not in the position to criticize anyone but I am here to fill in the gap between all the stakeholders, government and different groups.”

As to date, she could say on what’s the best for the island as they are still conducting a study on the area and possible remedy especially in helping the marginal fishermen.

(For the full story, click TNT.)

‘Dispersants may have triggered toxic fumes’

By DAVID ISRAEL SINAY
Panay News, Sept. 21, 2006

GUIMARAS – Some residents of Nueva Valencia town believe that dispersants used in the shoreline clean-up operations may have heightened the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and hydrogen sulfide in the atmosphere – leading some residents to get sick.

This accusations prevail despite the earlier pronouncements of Petron Corp.’s Health Safety and Environment Manager Carlos Tan that no chemical dispersants were used ashore.

Petron supervises shoreline clean-up operations while the Philippine Coast Guard is in charge of offshore clean-up.

Residents of Brgys. Tando and La Paz confirmed to Panay News that chemical dispersants were used in clean-up operations on shore.

On August 28, through an unnumbered memorandum, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III revealed the high level of toxic fumes from bunker oil-stained shores. It had sickened 25 adults and four children, the memo added. Clean-up operations were immediately stopped in Brgys. Tando, Cabalagnan and La Paz.

An official in Brgy. La Paz who asked for anonymity said chemical dispersants supplied by Petron were being prepared on the shoreline while air tests were being conducted.

“That might have raised the toxicity level of the air test,” the official said.

The official said dispersants were used during the time when there was still plenty of bunker fuel sludge washed ashore.

The use of chemical dispersants was only stopped when doctors in the area warned of the harmful effects of the substance, which prompted Petron to remove the chemical dispersants in the area.

“We immediately reported it to Mayor (Diosdado Gonzaga),” the official added.
On September 3, Gonzaga ordered the confiscation of five power sprayers owned by Petron, and discontinued the spraying of liquid chemicals on the shores of the affected barangays in his municipality.

Aside from the power sprayers, Nueva Valencia cops also confiscated a reel of hosepipe, dishwashing liquids and two containers with liquid in it – believed to be chemical dispersants, too.

Dispersants sprayed in the coasts of affected areas and offshore cleanup is harmful when inhaled. When it gets in contact with the skin, it may have carcinogenic effect. It is also toxic to aquatic organisms and may cause long term adverse effect on the aquatic environment, and may cause lung damage if swallowed.

Repeated exposure may cause skin dryness or cracking. The dispersants also contain polyalkylene polyamine that may result to an allergic reaction, and is environmentally hazardous.

“The smell is terrible. Indi mapatay ang tawo sa bunker fuel…sa chemical dispersant sigurado mapatay gid ya,” Priscilla Galvan of Brgy. Tando told Panay News.

Galvan is the teacher in-charge of the Paaralan ng Buhay ng Tando. The school is approximately five to seven meters away from shore.

Galvan said that on August 15, four days after the country’s worst oil spill catastrophe occurred, Petron laid several drums of chemical dispersants. “The drums were opened nagasungaw kag tuman ka baho. Sakit sa dughan,” she recalled.

She said they were relieved of the stinking odor when Gonzaga ordered them to stop.

The Department of Health revealed that respiratory illnesses were the most common disease reported in Guimaras, followed by skin diseases and stomach illnesses.

A memorandum dated September 11, 2006, addressed to DOH Secretary Francisco Duque, showed that 789 residents in Nueva Valencia and Sibunag towns were examined by the DOH-University of the Philippines-National Poison Management and Control Center on September 4 to 7.

The report showed that toxins remain present in the villages worst hit by the oil spill. Based on urine and blood samples analyzed, two of the five residents of Brgy. Tando were positive for sulfhemoglobin and ethemoglobin, with one having elevated methemoglobin.

The samples, taken on September 5 to 6 in Sitio Bagatnan in Panobolon, showed elevated levels of hydrogen sulfide when compared to the tolerable limit set by the United States Protection Agency Preliminary Remediation Goal.

Also, high levels of hydrogen sulfide and other toxic substances were evident in Sitio Naoway in Brgy. San Isidro, Sibunag.

Aromatic hydrocarbons were present in drinking water, soil and crab samples in the villages of Tando, Lapaz and Cabalagnan.

P32.8M estimated annual loss from Guimaras oil spill

By Jimmy P. Abayon

RESEARCHERS from Silliman University reported that the environmental havoc caused by the Guimaras oil spill would mean an estimated potential annual loss of P32.8 million from fish products owing to damaged mangroves, wood products, and seagrass-based fishery products.

The estimate is contained in a report submitted by a 24-member research team from Silliman University that made a rapid assessment of the effects of the bunker oil spill caused by the sinking of the tanker M/T Solar I off the coast of Guimaras Island on August 11.

The team, led by international marine scientist and former environment secretary Dr. Angel Alcala, said the oil spill has already contaminated the coastal ecosystems like mangroves and beaches of southern Guimaras and associated islands and some areas of eastern Iloilo province.

The contamination, said the team’s report, has swept 184 kilometers of coastline, 1,141 hectares of mangrove ecosystem, 88 hectares of seagrass beds in Guimaras province, and 4.5 kilometers of coastline and 38 hectares of mangroves in Iloilo province.

However, it said, although coral reefs were not found to be visibly affected, the long term effects must be looked into.

(For the full story, click Sunstar Dumaguete, Sept. 21, 2006.)

Negros Occ. governor doubts Petron’s letter

By Roberto L. Bacasong

VALLADOLID town Mayor Ricardo Presbitero will conduct an oil spill drill starting tomorrow in the town’s coastal waters.

Presbitero, in an interview Wednesday, said they are wary because of the sighting of an oil sheen floating in their coastal waters.

Negros Occidental Governor Joseph Marañon expressed doubts on the assurance given by oil giant Petron Corp. in a letter sent recently.

“I think in a few more days we (will) write to Petron again. The letter did not state a time frame as to when the ship will be removed from the seabed of Guimaras,” he said.

Jose Campos Jr., Petron Corp. vice president for marketing, wrote Marañon assuring the Provincial Government the removal of the remaining oil.

Meanwhile, a squabble occurred among local residents in Nueva Valencia after they accused their village chief of being unfair in hiring laborers for the clean up of the oil spill.

About 262 households and 143 affected families recently complained in Barangay Guioanon, Nueva Valencia before Mayor Diosdado Gonzaga saying that village chief Edmundo Galve is unfair in recruiting workers.

Galve is the second village chief that was complained by local folks as being unfair in hiring clean up drive laborers.

Gonzaga, in an interview Tuesday, asserted that some of 143 households wanted to be hired as worker for the oil spill clean up.

Petron Corporation, the owner of estimated millions of liters of bunker fuel, funds the clean up of the spill. With Jay Dooma Balnig

(For more oil spill stories, click Sunstar, Sept. 21, 2006.)

Is Petron pulling the wool over Guimarasrons’ eyes?

THE SOUTHERN BEAT By Rolly Espina
The Philippine Star 09/05/2006

I HAD already started addressing the ambitious one-week tourism show by the Department of Tourism in Iloilo City on Oct. 23. Then I suddenly found myself confronted by an ugly spectacle — the discovery of a dump for oily debris in a Guimaras village.

That may have been dismissed as an aberration until the lot owner, a coastal village housewife, admitted that Petron had leased the area for one week for only P300.

That could have been admissible. Except that the reporter asked her that if it were to be for only one week, how come the area had been cleared and bulldozed several feet deep. That stumped the housewife.

Next was the picture of another dumping ground which the authorities of Nueva Valencia had discovered. They were ordering the workers to haul out the dumped debris kept in oil-resistant bags. These were loaded onto a cargo truck under their watchful eyes to be transported to a waiting barge.

As pointed out by local observers, Petron officials had apparently taken steps to dump part of the recovered oil seepage on the very grounds of Guimaras which Guimaras Gov. JC Rahman Nava had objected to earlier. Nava contended that the recovered oil could contaminate ground water and render meager potable water resources dangerous for drinking.

My attention was also caught by the bewilderment of Marinduque officials as to the source of the bags of oily debris that had been washed ashore in that island-province.

Puzzling. A major guessing game in the works.

Then, a head teacher of Barangay Tando of Nueva Valencia charged Petron Corp. of having literally covered up the oil sludge in their village with quick drying cement instead of cleaning it up.

The head teacher, Priscilla Galvan, told the Panay News that she checked the cleanup operation near the school — Paaralan ng Buhay ng Tando — on Sept. 14 and was shocked to discover that the oil sludge that had stuck to coconut trunks along the coastline and breakwater had only been covered by a thin layer of cement.

She claimed that it was a Petron official who had ordered the cleanup workers to cover them up with cement.

Last Sept. 13, Petron declared the cleanup operations in Barangays Atando, Cabalangan and La Paz virtually completed.

In short, what is the game being played in Guimaras?

Except for local officials, even government officials seemed unaware of what has been going on right under their noses.

Neither the Philippine Coast Guard nor the members of the National Disaster Coordinating Council seemed to have been around when these things were discovered by mediamen.

One begins to wonder whether they have relaxed their guard.

The problem is that the eyes of government probers have been focused on the strong possibility that Solar I may have been hit by another ship alongside it that caused the tanker to sink.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez himself came up with the theory that the classic paihi might have happened and the receiving ship might have collided with the tanker. The paihi is reportedly a strategy where oil is transferred via a pipe to the hold of another vessel.

In stormy weather that poses the possibility of another ship ramming against the tanker.

The reason is that underwater pictures of the sunken tanker showed some highly questionable vents in the vessel. And these are vents that could be opened only deliberately, not by the current.

Two ranking military officers told a Negrense sugar farmer the other night that they are more convinced about that theory and hope that Gonzalez as well as the Board of Marine Inquiry would investigate it.

And many in Iloilo and Guimaras have been quizzical about how come Petron chairman Nick Alcantara has not personally visited Guimaras to see the conditions on the ground.

“No less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had gone there twice at least to assess the situation by herself, and yet Alcantara remains in his air-conditioned aerie in the National Capital Region,” pointed out an Iloilo critic.

Yesterday, I received a copy of the assessment report discussed in Monday’s Regional Development Council meeting. It showed the damage to other mangroves and that a total of 367.29 hectares of fishponds in Guimaras have been affected by the oil spill. This reportedly forced fishpond operators to declare an emergency harvest of undersized stocks and stop their operations.

The estimated value of standing crop damage was P1,069,185. But that is only the cost of the stocks that had to be prematurely harvested.

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Yeah, Nick…what’s so great about being stuck in your airconditioned office in Manila when you can walk along Guimaras’s oil-slicked beaches and inhale the perfume of rotten eggs in the air?

Oh and yeah, why didn’t you go see Gov. Nava in person instead of sending former DENR secretary Bebet Gozun, hmmm? (Poor woman got stressed by your sordid FGLA-tribal affair.) You afraid of stumbling on one of the barge platforms and falling into the sludge too?

From one polluter to another

Nograles bucks Holcim perks
By Ronnel Domingo
Inquirer

A LAWMAKER has urged the Board of Investments to hold back incentives for Holcim Philippines Inc.’s P1-billion rehabilitation project for its cement factory in Davao City, saying the facility was polluting the area.

Majority Floor Leader Prospero C. Nograles, who represents the first district of Davao City, said the plant that the firm wanted to work on “has not complied with world-class environmental standards.”

In a letter to BOI Managing Head Elmer C. Hernandez dated Sept. 5, Nograles said Holcim’s plant had become a health hazard in the surrounding communities.

“I am aware and concerned (about) numerous reports of thick cement dust polluting what used to be clean and breathable air in the area, which has caused several health problems among the residents of Davao,” the solon said.

When reached for comment, Holcim senior vice president Jocelyn Perez said company officials could not give any since they have not seen Nograles’ letter.

Perez said Holcim was only seeking from BOI the duty-free importation of capital goods rather than the full set of incentives.

(For the full story, click Holcim perks, Sept. 20, 2006.)

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WITH Tommy Alcantara’s long-lasting influence in the Department of Trade and Industry, and its attached agencies like the Board of Investments, you can bet your bottom dollar that, Holcim, which his family co-owns with the Swiss, is going to get those incentives. Of course, it helps that he is an “economic adviser” of the presidentita Arroyo. (Wonder no more why the economy has gone to the cement pits.)

As you know, Holcim is also going to get the sludge from the Petron oil spill in Guimaras, for free. The sludge will be used to run the Holcim’s cement plant in Misamis Oriental. Petron of course is chaired by Nick Alcantara, Tommy’s older brother. (Scroll to the bottom upon clicking Tommy’s name.)