Monitoring team says: Oil drilling has minimal impact on environment

The Multi-Partite Monitoring Team that conducted a study on the oil and gas exploratory drilling project in Tañon Strait said the recently concluded exploratory activities only had very minimal impact on the environment and the marine life in the protected seascape.

The Department of Energy welcomed the results of the study, saying it will refute the claims of environmental groups and militants that said the project is destructive to the marine life and livelihood of the local fishermen.

To note, environmental lawyers Gloria Estenzo Ramos and Rose-Liza Eisma Osorio who served as legal guardians of the “resident sea mammals” of the Tañon Strait, which include “toothed whales, dolphins, porpoises and other cetacean species,” have filed a petition at the Supreme Court against Japan Petroleum Explorations Inc. for allegedly destroying their habitat.

The MMT, which is composed of the people from the academe, local government units, coastal barangays, government agencies, non-government organizations, fisherfolks, among others, released yesterday the results of its study it conducted for more than two months.

EMB 7’s William Cuñado, who sits as chairman of the MMT, said that the task of his group is to monitor the compliance conditions of the JAPEX with the environmental standards.

“Generally, the drilling operations did not contribute any significant/adverse impact to the physical environment due to the strict compliance of the project proponent to the environmental laws and regulations,” Cuñado said.

He explained that they have conducted several meetings, site visit, ocular inspection and samplings together to make sure that they are transparent in their monitoring.

Specifically, Cuñado said that their water quality assessment show that the oil drilling has no significant effect on the water temperature, pH, turbidity and total coliform in the eight sampling stations. All the test results passed the DENR standards, he added.

For example, the MMT recorded the pH at 8.04 to 8.34 during drilling operations and 7.90 to 8.00 after the rig pullout, which are still within the DENR standards of 6 to 8.5.

The result also showed that the water temperature rose by more than 3 degrees but is still considered within the DENR standard.

“All results of the seawater or ambient water sampling are within the applicable DENR standards per DAO 34 series of 1990,” the MMT report said.

It also said that the DOE and JAPEX have commissioned EGS Asia Ltd., a Hong Kong-based surveying firm to conduct sound monitoring during the drilling operations. The sound data gathered during the survey was used by Prof. Florence Evacitas in assessing the impact of the drilling sound on cetaceans.

Evacitas said in her observations that pods of spinner dolphins were seen a number of times on January 1 during the first day of the sound monitoring, as the team was leaving the port of Toledo City for Pinamungahan. Spinner dolphins are reportedly the most sensitive to perceive sounds.  — Wenna A. Berondo/LPM