Damage from Guimaras oil spill growing, authorities say
Associated Press
Last updated 11:55am (Mla time) 08/17/2006
LA PAZ -- The Philippines' worst oil spill could ravage fisheries and other coastal resources in one of the country's central provinces, officials said Thursday, as authorities tried to contain a leak from a sunken tanker.
The Solar I, carrying 2 million liters (528,360 gallons) of fuel oil, sank Friday in deep waters south of the island province of Guimaras.
Provincial Governor Joaquin Nava said Wednesday the oil spill has affected or damaged 15 square kilometers (10 square miles) of coral reefs, over 200 kilometers (125 miles) of coastline, 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of marine reserves, at least two resort islands and 50 hectares (124 acres) of seaweed plantations.
In Guimaras' hard-hit La Paz village, the oil slick has stained nearly everything on its shore, including the walls of shanties that dot the beach. Small fishing boats have been grounded for nearly a week and many fishermen chatted idly amid a strong stench that resembled burning rubber.
Village leader Connie Gamuyaw said the slick was taking a toll on the poor village's livelihood and threatening its marine resources, including teeming mangroves. Some residents have begun coughing and moved away.
Gamuyaw said nearby Taclong Island, a marine reserve, used to lure a lot of foreigners, but with its beachfront and mangroves stained by the smelly slick, the visitors are gone.
"It used to be known as a paradise island, but now it's a black paradise," she said.
Nava said about a third of his province's 150,000 constituents live off the sea and an estimated 10,000 residents of coastal villages who rely on fishing are temporarily without livelihood.
"Only lately, we pulled ourselves out of the 20 poorest [provinces in the Philippines]. Now I suppose we will be going back," Nava told The Associated Press, adding that tourism and fishing were hit particularly hard.
The provincial government on Monday declared a "state of calamity" in Guimaras, allowing the speedy release of relief funds in the area, about 500 kilometers (310 miles) southeast of Manila.
Valladolid town, in nearby Negros Occidental province east of Guimaras, made a similar declaration Tuesday as the slick approached its shores.
Coast guard officials did not know how much of the fuel oil has spilled out from the tanker, which is lying 900 meters (3,000 feet) under water.
Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes told provincial officials that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo instructed him to seek help from Indonesia and Malaysia.
Nicasio Alcantara, chairman of Petron Corp., the fuel supplier, promised to help with the cleanup.
Sunshine Maritime Development Corp., which owned the tanker, will send British experts to assess whether the tanker might be salvaged or the remaining fuel oil siphoned out, according to company official Clemente Cancio.
An oil slick about 16 kilometers (10 miles) long was observed early Wednesday moving northeast between Guimaras and Negros Occidental, said Cmdr. Harold Jarder, the coast guard official in charge of cleanup efforts.
"It will be like a ticking time bomb undersea. Honestly speaking, we really have no way of knowing how much it has spilled," he told The Associated Press.
"The spill itself could take months or even years to clean up. This shows how ill-prepared we are for this type of disaster," said Von Hernandez, Southeast Asia campaign director for the environmental group Greenpeace.
Last year, more than 300,000 liters (80,000 gallons) of fuel oil spilled when a tanker ran aground near central Semirara Island.
