Cmdr. Allen Toribio, deputy commander of the Coast Guard’s Marine Environmental Protection Command, estimated that it would take from six months up to a year to remove the thousands of liters of bunker oil that had leaked out from a National Power Corp. (Napocor) oil tanker that ran aground off the island last Dec. 19.
"At the rate of six percent of contaminated 56 hectares of mangroves cleaned up per month, the cleanup operation could take from six months to one year," Toribio said.
So far, the Coast Guard has spent P7 million since the cleanup started last month, according to Toribio.
The oil spill has reached some five kilometers of the Semirara shoreline, affecting 56 hectares of mangroves and destroying seaweed farms, the locals’ main livelihood.
Under the law, the Napocor is liable to shoulder the cost of the cleanup and compensate the affected residents.
However, the ongoing cleanup may dry up the Coast Guard’s budget since the Napocor may not be able to promptly refund it after the state-run energy company’s insurer, the British Marine of London (BML), has denied its claim on three grounds.
The British Marine argued that the towage approval survey was not done by the London Salvage Association, as stipulated in the Napocor’s insurance policy.
Second, it said Napocor did not follow the surveyor’s requirement that the vessel be towed within 48 hours of suitable forecast winds of less than 12 knots and less than three feet.
And third, Napocor’s ABS class had expired in November 2001, it added.
The Napocor is reportedly appealing its insurer’s decision with the Government Service Insurance System.
"We are optimistic that all stakeholders will be able to claim what is due them," Toribio said.
The Coast Guard is reportedly backing up Napocor in its legal fight with the London-based BML for compensation, which some quarters, however, expect might take several years to settle.
This, despite Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s call on Napocor to immediately clean up the oil spill.
Santiago directed the Napocor to reveal the name of the company that had sent the oil barge from Oriental Mindoro to Masbate.
She said both the barge owner and the end-user of the bunker oil should also be held liable for damages to the Semirara residents, saying that the cost of an oil spill is "very high in both economic and ecological terms."
"An oil spill kills birds and fish because their feathers and gills are rendered ineffective. Many other forms of aquatic life also die because sunlight can no longer penetrate, and the level of dissolved oxygen is reduced," she said.
So far, 14,000 sacks of oil-contaminated materials and debris have been gathered, said Bienvenido Lipayon, regional director of the Environment Management Bureau.
"They have just wrapped up cleaning Caybelo Cove although they are still clearing what little is left (of the oil spill there)," he said.
Lipayon said some 200 people are involved in the ongoing cleanup, although the number may reach 400. — With Ronilo Ladrido Pamonag and Christina Mendez