ILOILO CITY—The mayor of Culasi town has called on government agencies to fast-track the location and removal of 16 metric tons of toxic chemical from the cargo ship MV Ocean Papa that sank off Antique at the height of Typhoon “Frank” (international codename: Fengshen) last month.
Mayor Aida Alpas on Saturday said she had asked the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to retrieve the carcinogenic chemical toluene di-isocyanate (TDI) contained in 80 drums aboard the stricken vessel.
TDI is a main ingredient in the production of flexible polyurethane foam and is used in manufacturing synthetic leather, coated fabrics, paints and adhesives. The chemical can cause severe irritation of the skin and eyes and affects the respiratory, gastrointestinal and central nervous systems if inhaled or ingested.
“The chemical has long-term carcinogenic effects on humans,” said a report of the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau.
“It is of outmost importance that the toxic cargo is located and removed,” Alpas said in a telephone interview.
The Ocean Papa sank at noon on June 21 near Mararison Island, 5.6 kilometers from the coast of Culasi, which is 86 km north of the provincial capital of San Jose.
2 killed
The vessel’s captain, Carlo Kho, and another crew member perished while two others were reported as missing. Twenty-four crew members were rescued, the PCG has said.
The sinking of the Ocean Papa happened at about the same time that the MV Princess of the Stars owned by Sulpicio Lines capsized off Sibuyan Island in Romblon province, leaving more than 800 people dead.
The Princess of the Stars also carried 10 tons of the deadly pesticide endosulfan which authorities want to remove to prevent damage to the environment and allow the retrieval of hundreds of fatalities trapped in the vessel.
Coast Guard divers have failed to locate the missing containers from the Ocean Papa, which are believed to have been thrown overboard as the ship sank.
Alpas said Culasi residents, fearing contamination, were refusing to eat fish. Alpas also feared that any leak would harm the coral reefs and other marine life.
Monitoring teams
The provincial health officer, Dr. Norman Tanchuan, had sought to allay fears of contamination, saying there had been no reported case of exposure to TDI.
The Department of Health (DOH) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) have sent monitoring teams at the site of the sunken cargo vessel to determine any risk to marine life and the health of residents.
“What is important is that the containers with the toxic substance are not opened and exposed,” Lydia Depra-Ramos, the DOH regional director, said in a telephone interview.
Dr. Sophia Chua of the DOH regional office earlier said Culasi residents had been alerted not to open olive green-colored drums if these were found and to turn them over to the PCG or the DENR.
Drusilla Ong, BFAR regional director, on Saturday said that she had requested the BFAR central office to send a surveillance vessel and to conduct water sampling in the area.
Ong said the release of such a large amount of toxic substance would result in massive fish kills.
Detection equipment
Commodore William Melad, PCG-Western Visayas commander, earlier said he had sent a tugboat in the area to assist the location of the container vans.
He said the PCG had also talked with representatives of the owner of the cargo ship, Ocean Container Lines Inc., to bring underwater detection equipment to help locate the drums containing TDI.
Melad said the shipowner had already contracted a firm to salvage the ship and that salvaging operations were to begin in two weeks.
The PCG has constituted a special Board of Marine Inquiry to investigate the sinking of the Ocean Papa and the MV Lake Paoay.
The Lake Paoay, a cargo ship operated by Semirara Mining Co., sank off the coast of Carles town in Iloilo on June 21. The ship was transporting 5,000 metric tons of coal from Semirara Island to a coal-fired power plant in Toledo City in Cebu.
