Coast Guard probes oil spill off Lapu-Lapu City

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Coast Guard  is investigating an oil spill off Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu on Friday, a PCG official said Saturday.

PCG spokesperson Lieutenant Commodore Algier Ricafrente said Coast Guard personnel collected an estimated 110 liters of an “oily mixture” from waters off the Osmeña Pier in Lapu-Lapu City on Friday morning.

The PCG was still trying too determine who was responsible for the oil spill, Ricafrente said.

He said a crew member of Metro Ferry’s Carmen Uno sighted the oil spill at around 9:45 a.m. and reported it to the Coast Guard.

“The personnel from (Coast Guard) Detachment Mandaue were alerted on the reported incident and immediately proceeded to the site to verify the report at around 10:10 a.m.,” Ricafrente said. “After conducting some thorough tests, they were convinced that the substance polluting the water that was drifting towards First Mactan-Madaue Bridge was oil, initially estimated at one drum.”

Upon receiving this confirmation, the PCG Station-Cebu immediately dispatched the Marine Environmental Protection Unit and Special Operations Unit  to the area to recover and clean up the oil spill.