Oil leaking from tanker reaches Bulacan coast

CITY OF MALOLOS, Philippines — The oil slick from the tanker Terra Nova that sank off the coast of Bataan has now reached the coastline of Bulacan.

This was confirmed yesterday morning to President Marcos by Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando during the situation briefing on the effects of Typhoon Carina in the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga and Bataan at the session hall of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan ng Bulacan in Malolos City.

Fernando said the oil slick was sighted in the coastal area of Barangay Pamarawan in Malolos City as confirmed by its barangay chairman.

As this developed, Fernando sought the assistance of the President to set up oil slick booms in the coastal areas of Bulacan to protect its aquatic resources and the fishpond industry of the province.

Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga agreed that the oil spill should be contained but noted that commercial oil booms are too expensive and suggested that organic oil booms should be used because these are cheaper to make.

Loyzaga explained that rice straws and coconut husks could be processed to come up with an organic oil boom.

The President agreed to Loyzaga’s suggestion and proposed that the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers program of the Department of Labor and Employment be implemented to provide a livelihood project for the residents affected by the floodwaters caused by Carina and the southwest monsoon.

The top officials of Bulacan, Pampanga and Bataan were advised by Loyzaga to gather these indigenous materials and technical people will be sent to them to teach their respective residents how to make the organic oil boom.

Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum and Health Secretary Ted Herbosa also suggested using “oil-eating bacteria” to help contain the oil slick.

Solidum quoted oil pollution expert Hernando Bacosa, saying “Manila Bay has a lot of oil-degrading bacteria because the area is a major shipping and transportation hub.”

The Chief Executive has also advised the Department of Social Welfare and Development to be on standby for what assistance it can provide to the residents that can be affected by the oil slick.

Top officials of Bulacan, Pampanga and Bataan are also asking for an advisory on early fish harvests on coastal fishponds in their provinces which the President said should be done immediately.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources will conduct an assessment of the impacts of the oil spill in Manila Bay together with the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute to assess the extent and direction of the oil spill, as well as its characteristics and content, according to DENR Assistant Secretary Noralene Uy.

President Marcos yesterday formed an interagency task force that would immediately act on the oil spill which is threatening to affect nearby provinces.

Some of the 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil inside Terra Nova has started to leak into Manila Bay, the coast guard said Saturday as they raced to avoid an environmental catastrophe.

The tanker sank in bad weather off Bataan early Thursday, killing one crewmember and leaving the country potentially facing its worst oil spill disaster.

The oil slick has more than tripled in size and is now estimated to stretch 12-14 kilometers across the bay, which thousands of fishermen and tourism operators rely on for their livelihoods.

Divers inspected the hull of the vessel on Saturday and saw a “minimal leak” from the valves, coast guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo said, adding it was “not alarming yet.”

“It’s just a small volume flowing out,” Balilo said, adding “the tanks are intact.”

“We’re hoping that tomorrow we will be able to start siphoning the oil from the motor tanker,” he said.

The ship that will carry the recovered oil is on its way to the area, he said.

The coast guard has warned that if the entire cargo leaked it would be an “environmental catastrophe.”

It has previously said the oil leaking from the tanker appeared to be the diesel fuel used to power the vessel, which is resting on the sea floor under 34 meters (116 feet) of water.

The coast guard now thinks the slick is a mixture of diesel and industrial fuel oil.

Oil containment booms have been deployed for what Balilo earlier described as “the worst case scenario” of the cargo leaking out.

Three coast guard vessels were also spreading dispersants on the oil.

Balilo called for a suspension of fishing in Manila Bay to prevent people “eating contaminated fish.”

Seven days to offload oil

The vessel sank nearly seven kilometers from its origin in the port of Limay west of Manila. It was attempting to return to port after running into bad weather.

Sixteen of the 17 crewmembers were rescued from the tanker, which vessel tracking website vesselfinder.com said was 65-meters long and built in 2002.

The incident occurred as heavy rains fuelled by Typhoon Carina and the seasonal monsoon lashed Manila and surrounding regions in recent days.

The state weather service said the monsoon had weakened by late Friday, giving the authorities a window of relative calm at sea to recover the cargo.

The coast guard estimates the extraction would take at least seven days.

It met with representatives of the MT Terra Nova’s owner and a contracted salvage company on Friday to discuss the timeline.

Efforts to drain the oil from Terra Nova are expected to start today as experts have observed apparently a wider extent of an oil spill, according to the Philippine Coast Guard.

The Philippines has struggled to contain serious oil spills in the past.

It took months to clean up after a tanker carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil sank off the central island of Mindoro last year, contaminating waters and beaches of the island and devastating the fishing and tourism industries.

Another tanker sank off the central island of Guimaras in 2006, spilling tens of thousands of gallons of oil that destroyed a marine reserve, ruined local fishing grounds and covered stretches of coastline in black sludge. — Ghio Ong, Mark Ernest Villeza, Alexis Romero