Sual oil leak contained, no damages reported
SUAL— TeaM Energy, which manages and operates the Sual coal-fired power plant, vowed to fully cooperate with government authorities investigating the oil leak that happened dawn Monday.
In an interview with Froilan Gregory Romualdez III, head of External Affairs and spokesman of TeaM Energy Corporation, he said that as of October 29 and after inspecting nearby fish cages with the Sual local government, that there are no visible traces of the leak in the immediate coastlines near the plant and these are not in any way affected by the incident.
“Fishermen can be seen fishing outside plant grounds, an indication that things are normal in the waters outside the power plant,” Romualdez said.
He also stressed that the leak to one of their pipes occurred inside the premises of the power plant, and, therefore, land-based.
“In our estimate, around 50 liters of oil reached the ocean. Most of the 4,000 liters mentioned as having leaked from the pipe was contained within plant grounds on land,” Romualdez said.
He said the company’s emergency response team quickly took control of the situation and at around 3:00 a.m. Monday was able to prevent damage to the immediate marine eco-systems.
“Our company remains committed to running the Sual Power Station in a safe, reliable and environment friendly manner as it has been doing for the past 15 years,” he said.
He assured that they are taking the necessary steps to ensure that this isolated incident does not happen again.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard is set to submit its inspection and apprehension report in connection with the reported oil spill on the basis of its completed investigation and ocular inspection conducted by PCG, the Local Government of Sual and other agencies, and their interviews with residents of Pangascasan, Sual including the caretakers of fish cages in the area.
The PCG, however, said the reported 4,000 liters of bunker fuel that escaped from the plant’s ruptured pipe were confined in its outpool canal done through the use of oil spill boom.
The outpool is a canal where the warm water from the plant which is produced while the plant is generating some 1,200 megawatt of power for the Luzon Grid is coming from.
However, the investigation and inspection by multi-government agencies are still continuing to find out any more trace of oil in the coastal areas, particularly Barangay Pangascasan, Sual as a result of the oil spill.
A team from the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of Region 1 also confirmed that the problem was already contained based on the physical appearance of the water
Dr. Westly Rosario, chief of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources/ National Integrated Fisheries Technology and Development Center in Dagupan City who sent a team to probe the oil leak also confirmed in a separate interview that fish cages are 200-500 meters away from the area where the leak reached.
“Manipis lang yung leak (The leak is only thin),” he said and the estimated area affected is about less than one hectare only.
As a biologist, Rosario said the oil leak had no negative effects on aquaculture because the oil does not mix with water and fishes are at the bottom.
Sual Mayor Roberto Arcinue also allayed fears of his town mates about the oil leak saying “it has been immediately contained and fish cages are away from the affected area”.
He said he was at the plant from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday to check the situation and saw “there is no cause for alarm”.
The mayor added that there was no reported effect on the fish cages.
“Our bangus (milkfish) is okay as usual,” he said. (Tita Roces)
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