Marcos creates task force to avert spill catastrophe
Some of the 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil inside the sunken MT Terra Nova tanker started to leak into Manila Bay, the Philippine Coast Guard said Saturday, as the government raced to avoid an environmental catastrophe.
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.
Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga told President Marcos the oil spill might affect Bulacan, Cavite, and Pampanga.
Yulo-Loyzaga showed Mr. Marcos a diagram from the Biodiversity Management Bureau identifying coastal and marine resources and marine protected areas that might be affected by the oil spill as well as an image from the Philippine Satellite Agency showing the track of the oil slick.
“We are on the lookout now for the possible contamination that could happen in the wetlands and the coastline areas not just of Bataan, but we are also looking at Bulacan, and we are also looking at Pampanga, possibly Cavite because of Corregidor,” she said.
The President created an inter-agency task force to quickly address the potential effects of the oil spill.
Led by the Office of the Civil Defense, the task force also includes the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Philippine Coast Guard, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Health, Department of Labor and Employment, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Mr. Marcos said indigenous materials to absorb the oil should be used.
“Let’s simulate it because no matter what happens, we will really need the commercial booms. Whatever we can get, let’s get it…Let’s get ready for the time when we have to deploy them. Actually, we should already be deploying them,” the President said.
Divers inspected the hull of the vessel on Saturday and saw a “minimal leak” from the valves, PCG 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 (Sunday), we will be able to start siphoning the oil from the motor tanker,” he added.
The ship that will carry the recovered oil is on its way to the area, he said.
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.”
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.
The coast guard estimates the extraction would take at least seven days. AFP
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