Rama stops hair collection for oil spill booms

CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama called off a donation campaign for human hair following advice from the Coast Guard and local scientists that it could cause marine pollution when used as improvised spill booms.

“For now, we stop the hair collection. But we will still continue making hair booms out of those we have already collected,” said Rama in a briefing yesterday.

Extra care will be taken to avoid littering the sea by wrapping the hair well in discarded stockings and then removing the oil-soaked “sausages” after the operation, Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella said.

During a visit this week to Cebu to survey the oil spill from the sunken MV St. Thomas Aquinas, Dr. Resureccion Sadaba, a chemist of the University of the Philippines in Iloilo and manager of the Oil Spill Response Program, pointed out the risk of hair booms getting left behind at sea because they get very heavy after absorbing oil. Hair also does not decompose easily.

She recommended using organic materials such as coconut fiber and coconut husks in jute sacks.

City Hall will wait for new instructions first.

“Edgar (Labella) should know how to make and use coconut booms first before we start asking for donations,” Rama said.

A similar campaign had over 580 inmates of the Lapu-Lapu City jail lining up the other day where the men shaved their heads and the women trimmed their hair to donate the clippings to be made as oil spill booms to help stop the oil spill from reaching other parts of Cebu.

Vice Mayor Labella, who is spearheading the Cebu city campaign, said that while he listens to and respects the experts’ advice, he assured that hair booms will be used carefully.

“The hairs have to be packed inside stockings (so it does not litter). It should not be used indiscriminately and must be disposed of properly,” he said.

Labella said he is planning to give oil-soaked hair booms to industries that operate furnaces like manufacturers of steel plates and steel rods.

“Once the hair boom is soaked in oil, it’s combustible. It should then be used to burn fuel. There are industries that would want to use it for processing their products,” he added.

A puzzled Mayor Rama wondered why “experts” they had asked before approved the measure while others took long to give the correct advice.

“Even Capt. Daniel Sarmiento of the salvage company (Malayan Towage and Salvage Corp) said hair booms would be helpful,” Labella said.

It was earlier reported that City Hall got clearance to use hair booms from the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources.

Commander Weniel Azcuna, chief of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Cebu Station, yesterday confirmed that their experts disapprove of using hair and prefer coconut husks.

“I declined to comment on the hair boom before. But last night (Thursday), I inquired with environmental experts from PCG. They don’t advise hair booms because these are non-biodegradable and will sink if soaked in oil,” Azcuna said.