Oil slick threatens rich fishing grounds

RESIDENTS on the northeast coast of Panay, which is around 140 kilometers from where the tanker went down, have reported seeing traces of oil, the Office of Civil Defense said Friday.

Oil was also spotted off the west coast of Negros causing at least one town to declare a “state of calamity.” (See earlier post below on GMA’s declaration of a “state of calamity” in Guimaras.)

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 kilometers 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.

(Originally published on the ABS-CBN news web site on Aug. 25, 2006. Click here for the rest of the story.)

TEXT or call NICK ALCANTARA, Petron chairman and CEO, and tell him exactly how you feel about his company’s dilly-dallying and seeming unwillingness to take responsibility for the damage the oil spill has wrought on Guimaras and other neighboring islands. The impact will remain for many years to come. Alcantara’s cellphone no. is 0917-898-1322.

You may also email Petron spokeswoman VIRGINIA RUIVIVAR at varuivivar@petron.com about how you want the company to be pro-active in the cleanup instead of letting their officials just cool themselves in their airconditioned offices.

Solar 1’s captain, crew have expired papers

THE Special Board of Marine Inquiry (SBMI) has summoned officials of the Sunshine Maritime Development Corp. for allowing its sunken ship, M/T Solar 1, to be manned by a captain and crew members with expired papers, TV Patrol World reported Friday.

Initial investigations conducted by SBMI showed that the certification of Norberto Aguro, the oil tanker’s captain, for General Tanker Familiarization and Advance Training on Chemical Tanker Operations expired in March 2002.

The report added that Aguro’s Certificate of Competency is only for a chemical tanker and that he has no training to man specialized oil tankers, which according to SBMI, are violations of Marine Memo Circular 83.

SBMI also discovered that Solar 1 crew members Herminio Renger, Jesse Angel, Reynaldo Torio and Victor Morados have expired certificates for General Tanker Familiarization.

The panel asked the Professional Regulation Commission to determine if Aguro and the four crewmen violated PRC regulations by using expired licenses and certificates.

The TV Patrol World report said SBMI is also questioning the oil tanker’s owner use of expired Interim Documents of Compliance. SBMI Chairman Danilo Abinoja said the certificate is proof that a ship has proper safety system and avoids tragedies at sea.

The report said Aguro and his crew, officials of the Sunshine Maritime Development Corp. and Petron Corp. are set to face the board Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

The oil tanker sank last August 11 off the coast of Guimaras island in Iloilo province. The tanker has been leaking oil since, which affected coastal villages of the province.

(Originally published on the ABS-CBN News web site, Aug. 25, 2006.)

From Greenpeace

Greenpeace volunteers assist local fishermen, collecting oil from beaches by hand. (For more photos, click Greenpeace.)

GREENPEACE STATEMENT ON THE OIL SPILL (Aug. 15, 2006)

The Philippine government must hold Petron and its partners accountable for damages to marine and coastal ecosystems and for their rehabilitation. The scale of this oil spill may turn to be even larger than the Semirara oil spill last year and threatens at least three marine reserves in Visayas.

The vessel that sank in Guimaras Strait in the Philippines is an ecological time bomb that may cause long-term and possibly permanent damage to the environment and livelihoods of people. The rich marine and coastal ecosystems in this part of the country provide food and livelihood to communities. Guimaras is also an important tourist destination known for its beaches and seafood.

Oil spills are a very visible reminder that throughout its life cycle, oil can damage our air and our water. Oil causes climate change which in turn triggers extreme weather events. What is clear is that from oil spills to global warming, the price of oil is a lot higher than what we pay at the pump. The only way to avert either of these environmental catastrophes is to reduce our dependence on oil.

In order to prevent new oil spills regulations need to force both the shipping industry and the charterers to operate under the highest standards of ships and crews.

What the BBC is reporting…

Philippine oil spill claims life
By Sarah Toms
BBC News, Manila

AN oil spill in the central Philippines has claimed its first human victim, with a man dying from breathing the toxic fumes.

In the 12 days since the tanker sank, the huge slick has washed sludge onto huge areas of coastline.

The oil spill has damaged fishing grounds, and polluted dive spots and a national marine reserve.

Health officials say the man inhaled fumes of the thick, tar-like substance outside his home on Guimaras island.

Villagers say skin and breathing problems have become commonplace.

The government has hired locals for the clean-up, paying them less than $4 (£2.11) a day to scoop up the sludge on the shores. Many have no masks and use their bare hands.

(Originally published on BBC News, Aug. 23, 2006. Click here for the rest of the story.)

Remember Alaska and Exxon Valdez

Click Exxon Valdez

The estimated initial death toll of the Exxon Valdez oil spill included 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 killer whales, billions of salmon and herring eggs, and other intertidal plants and animals. Some injured species are still recovering. (Photo from the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council web site.)

Actual location of the spill

BELOW is a map of the oil spill in Guimaras (“borrowed” from the World Wildlife Fund’s web site), showing the affected towns and threatened areas. For a larger image, click here. This map was dated Aug. 21, and as per Sunstar’s report, the spill has already spread wider.

The red areas are where the oil spill has hit the hardest while those in blue are the threatened areas. Mid-point near the bottom of the map is where the oil tanker sank.

Oil sheen sighted off northern Cebu town

By Garry Cabotaje
with Minerva B. Gerodias

CEBU CITY — The surface waters off Madridejos town in Bantayan Island in northern Cebu turned oily Thursday, raising fears that the massive oil spill in Guimaras has already reached and contaminated the Visayan seas.

Both Madridejos Mayor Lety Mancio and environmental lawyer Antonio Oposa confirmed an oil sheen that turned the seawaters off Madridejos into greasy-like liquid that glints in sunlight.

Mancio said the oily surface waters could even be spotted just 300 meters away from the shoreline of Barangay Poblacion.

Local fishermen also found bits and pieces of hardened black materials, which Mancio described as similar to dried asphalt, in a fish sanctuary known as Kapayas shoal, some three or four kilometers from the town’s shoreline.

“Manguros na lang ta ani (We will just make the sign of the cross),” was Oposa’s reaction upon learning from Mancio about the presence of oil sheen in Madridejos.

Oposa, head of the Visayan Sea Squadron and Integrated Bar of the Philippines national environmental team leader, earlier warned authorities that the oil spill in Guimaras Island will reach the Visayan Sea triangle, the major fishing ground for commercial vessels in the Visayas area.

Oil tanker Solar I sank off Guimaras Island last August 11, discharging more than 50,000 gallons of bunker fuel into the seas. Petron Corp. had ordered the bunker fuel.

Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz asked Petron to adopt measures to prevent the oil spill from spreading to the nearby Visayan Sea and Bantayan Island and other threatened areas.

(Originally published on Sunstar web site, Aug. 25, 2006. Click here for the rest of the story.)

‘State of national calamity’ declared over oil spill

By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
Reporter

PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared a state of national calamity on Friday over the Guimaras oil spill and called on concerned government agencies to step up work on the environmental and health problems caused by the disaster.
“I am declaring the Guimaras oil spill as a national calamity that demands the cooperation and solidarity of all Filipinos. Let us do what has to be done first and deal with the blame later,” Arroyo said in a speech at the national convention of the National Prosecutors League of the Philippines in Cebu.

She also called on Petron Corporation and the owner of the sunken tanker Solar I to “immediately clean up the mess.”

Asked if the President was merely describing the situation or actually making an official declaration, Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor told INQ7.net it was an “official declaration.”

Arthur Yap, chief of the Presidential Management Staff, also confirmed the statement as an official declaration meant to allow Arroyo to mobilize all the resources needed to address the crisis wrought by the country’s worst oil spill.

(Originally published on INQ7 web site, Aug. 25, 2006. Click here for rest of the story.)

IT’S ABOUT TIME! 13 days and counting Mrs. President!

Hello Petron! Gising ba kayo?

WELCOME to the Guimaras oil spill blog. I will be posting here news and updates on the environmental catastrophe that has threatened the Visayas region. Hopefully this becomes a one-stop resource for everything and anything you want to know about the oil spill. For earlier sludge stories and thoughts, you may check out my other blog here.

SAVE VISAYAS NOW!