Oil spill manageable, say foreign experts

PICTURES of those who died after a Sulpicio ship rammed the passenger vessel MV St. Thomas Aquinas on Aug. 16 are pasted on a wall of Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes in Cebu City. JUNJIE MENDOZA/CEBU DAILY NEWS

At least two London-based experts reported “relatively light” damage on mangroves caused by an oil spill from the MV St. Thomas Aquinas, which sank minutes after it was rammed by the cargo vessel Sulpicio Express Siete on Aug. 16.

The initial findings of the experts, sent by the shipping firm that owned the St. Thomas Aquinas, were made as the regional office of a Department of Environment and Natural Resources bureau filed a complaint against the St. Thomas Aquinas’ owner for the spill.

In a statement, the firm 2GO, which owns the St. Thomas Aquinas, quoted two members of the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Ltd (ITOPF) of London as saying they had made progress in assessing the damage to the mangroves of Cordova, Cebu, caused by oil leaking from the St. Thomas Aquinas when it sunk after being rammed by the Sulpicio ship.

“Although the contamination covered a relatively large area of where the mangroves are, oiling appeared relatively light. We hope to be able to meet the mayor of Cordova soon,” said Nicky Cariglia of ITOPF in the statement.

Another ITOPF member, Dr. Michael O’Brien, helped in the damage assessment.

According to Cariglia, she and O’Brien will next conduct more surveys and monitor fishing activities in Cordova to determine how the oil spill has affected the livelihood of people there.

O’Brien had reported meeting with representatives from the Philippine Coast Guard and several other parties looking into the oil spill and noted that only Coast Guard personnel had been equipped with protective gear, like rubber gloves and boots.

O’ Brien, an expert in environmental impact analysis, said 2GO has supplied Coast Guard personnel helping in the cleanup with rubber boots and gloves.

The statement quoted O’Brien as saying the spill is confined to the mangrove area of Cordova and has not spread to the entire coastal town as reported.

Carigilia, also an expert in tropical coastal management, and O’Brien flew in last Aug. 19 on the request of 2GO to help in the spill cleanup.

Aside from the ITOPF experts, 2GO has also sent a team of technical divers and a salvage master to the area.

The firm said it also hired 100 fisherfolk from Cordova, who had been adversely affected by the oil spill, for a food-for-work program.

William Cunado, regional head of the Environment Management Bureau, said the case against 2GO was filed at the Pollution Adjudication Board on Aug. 23.

The mangroves affected by the spill were part of the Integrated Coastal Management Project that released P6 million to the provincial environment and natural resources office of Cebu to maintain the Cordova mangroves. With a report from Carine Asutilla, Inquirer Visayas