PCG-Iloilo ends oil spill recovery

By Jennifer P. Rendon

 

The Philippine Coast Guard-Iloilo Station on Sunday confirmed that it has officially ended the recovery process of the oil spill that leaked out of Power Barge 102.

Lieutenant Commander Joe Luviz Mercurio, PCG-Iloilo Station commander, said they were done with the recovery process efforts on Saturday, a day earlier than the July 12 target.

“The termination of the recovery process was agreed upon by the incident management team after an area assessment was done in the morning of July 11,” he said.

Earlier, Mercurio said the PCG is hastening the recovery process to be able to start with the clean-up operation.

While no target date was imposed on them, Mercurio said they set July 12 as their deadline.

A few days ago, Mercurio said they have also started clean-up operations in some oil spill affected areas.

The PCG said they could simultaneously conduct the recovery process, which is the second phase of responding to oil spill incidents and the third phase, which is the cleanup operation.

The PCG has completed the first step in responding to the oil spill, which is the containment and abatement process, on the day it happened.

On Friday morning, Mercurio said they have already retrieved 245,600 liters of bunker oil.

Around 251,000 liters of bunker fuel leaked from Power Barge 102 of Ayala-owned AC Energy Philippine following an explosion on July 3, 2020.

The power barge, which is stationed at Bo. Obrero, Lapuz, Iloilo City can hold 268,000 liters of fuel.

Aside from portions of Lapuz district, Iloilo City, oil spill has reached the districts of Molo, Arevalo, and City Proper.

Oil sheen was also spotted in the towns of Leganes, Zarraga, and Dumangas in Iloilo province.

There were also oil sheen and slicks along the Guimaras and Iloilo Straits, particularly in the towns of Buenavista and Jordan in Guimaras province.

Over the weekend, the Guimaras Provincial Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Office said the oil spill has affected 37 barangays of Buenavista, Jordan, Nueva Valencia, and San Lorenzo.

Buenavista is the most affected with 17 coastal barangays, Nueva Valencia with nine, eight in Jordan, and three in San Lorenzo.

 

SPEEDY RESPONSE, DATA

Meanwhile, the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) Region 6 conducted an ocular inspection of the damages brought by the oil spill.

OCD Regional Director Jose Roberto Nuñez was joined by Guimaras Governor Samuel T. Gumarin and officials from the Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Army, Philippine Navy, Bureau of Fire Protection and the Department of Social Welfare and Development aboard the Philippine Navy vessel as they surveyed the coastlines of affected barangays in the municipality of Buenavista.

Nuñez and Gumarin criticized AC Energy’s slow response to the tragedy particularly in cleaning up the bunker fuel that littered the shorelines of Guimaras.

The Governor also hit the firm’s apparent lack of contingency plan in the event of an oil spill disaster.

“Response time sobrang bagal. Walang contingency plan. Kung may nakahandang spill booms sana naka-deploy agad,” Gumarin said.

Nuñez underscored the urgency of the situation as he assured to focus the efforts of the clean-up operation in the Province of Guimaras.

He said that it should not take another week for AC Energy to collect the hazardous waste that affected the marine ecosystem of the island and the livelihood of the Guimarasnons living in the coastal areas hit by the oil spill.

“I-schedule clean up drive. Dito mag-concentrate, magpadala ng tao. One week na tayo. Kailangan hindi na natin paabutin ng another week. Mahirap na,” Nuñez said.

Meanwhile, Gumarin cast doubt on the declaration of the AC Energy that around 251,000 liters of fuel have spilled when the barge was damaged by an explosion last July 3, 2020.

AC Energy should be responsible enough to release accurate data that is essential for the declarations to be undertaken by the municipalities.

“I think it is more than 251,000 liters. Actually, tumutulong na tayo sa kanila. Dapat tulungan din nila tayo. We need data na tama,” he added.