All-out bid to contain oil spill

[Bcgardener]

I was involved in a PTT project near Sukhothai, nothing related to oil leaks but I did go to a number of meetings with their engineers at the PTT headquarters in Bangkok. These "degree" engineers (electrical and mechanical) didn't have even a basic understanding of their professions, just more examples of the degree mills that Thai universities represent. If this is a typical example of the PTT people that are running this clean up then stay tuned, it will get worse. I can only hope that there is somebody with some experience involved as I live next to one of those Rayong beaches!

[Tywais]

20kms SE of Map Ta Phut is around here.

[Thai at Heart]

working to keep it from the beaches, because if no one sees it then it didn't really happen

No you keep it off the beaches as it has less of an environmental impact if controlled at sea. Have you ever seen an oil spill on a beach? Sea birds get coated with the oil and die, fish and shellfish dying due to the pollution. The MO for controlling oil spill are the same the world over, Google BP's oil spill in the Gulf and look at the effect it had on coastal communities when the oil washed up onshore.

It is well established that clean-up at sea is also detrimental - the hemicals used are detrimental and the substances that get into the food chain in droplet form in suspension will eventually end up being consumed by other animals and ultimately US! there is also fallout from the suface and a lot of stuff ends up on the sea floor - coral etc being destroyed or otherwise affected.

The water down there is ghastly anyway. The dipersents are little more than super strong dish washing liquid. Hardly going to make the water horrendously worse.

I'd be more worried about oil getting into the seafood. Not good at all.

[RichCor]

A friend and I were swimming off Ko Larn (island near Pattaya) two days ago and there were crude oil globules in the water that become a spread-out sticky mess once they connected with my body hair. I was going to check the Internet to see if anyone knew of a recent spill, so now it seems there are more uncontained spills than just this one.

[Dukeleto]

Asst Prof Thon Thamrongnawasawat, an expert in marine ecology, called for a quick clean-up of the oil spill in the sea, in order to prevent adverse impacts on the environment, which in turn could harm the local tourism industry.

You don't say...now I know why he's an expert. So it all should be cleaned up in no time with no impact.

[iowanative]

disappointing to say the least. My main concern is the use of these dispersants. These do not "fix" the problem, nor do they make it mmanageable. They simply make the oil only possible to see on a microscopic level. THis then sinks to the bottom, contaminating sand and silt on the ocean floor. These dispersants are not highly reaserched, and also have been linked to terrible health problems in ocean life. During the recent BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill off the coast of the USA, huge quantities of them were used. Only now are we starting to see fish with spotting on their internal organs, cancerous sores, and birth defects. Lord only knows how long these effects will last.

Edited July 28, 2013 by Scott
Profanity edited out

[TommyDee]

all the info is based on whats given out ..there are a few more photos in our story here, showing the extent of the leak this morning

http://www.pattaya103.com/crude-oil-leak-thailand-rayong/

Edited July 28, 2013 by TommyDee

[bradflorescu]

June last year I went sailing with a friend from Pattaya to Samet. About halfway to the destination we encountered an oil spill that was stretching to the South for as far as the eye could see. We've sailed through it for about one hour at the speed of 7 knots. I don't know if it's the same oil spill as the one Bcgardener mentioned - which implies that the filth has been floating freely for three whole months - or another one - which implies that spills are more frequent than we know. I have it on video.

Did it look anything like Post #17 here?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/644095-oil-spill-virgin-coast-koh-samui/

Impulse, it's hard to say. I was miles offshore. It was definitely crude oil (not engine oil or diesel) and the spill seemed too wide to source from a fishing boat. Could have come from a tanker or from a pipe. I don't know and I hate to speculate.

[Dellboy218]

Rayong had some very nice beaches. It is now admitted that some oil may reach them.

May problem with the reporting on this is that it all sounds like "newspeak".

"Everything is under control".

It would be nice to hear from someone other than the perpetrators - PTT - or the government news agency

PERPETRATORS? So that's it then, signed sealed and delivered M'Lud. Guilty as charged. Unless of course you read a different article. I read it was a mechanical failure. Pipes crack, Valves leak, Flanges work loose. It happens. They fixed it. These things happen with the best will in the world. What they do and how they respond to an incident is a measure of the company involved. Of course they could be telling "porkies".......

[WhizBang]

It needs to be born in mind that the clean-up operation will in itself pose evironmental threats....both to the land and sea.

So, what, you want them to do nothing then?

Yes, there will be damage. The object now is to MINIMIZE the damage.

[MILT]

working to keep it from the beaches, because if no one sees it then it didn't really happen alt=thumbsup.gif width=25 height=19>

I am pretty sure that was not what was being said. Honestly do you really believe the stuff you write?

[Orac]

all the info is based on whats given out ..there are a few more photos in our story here, showing the extent of the leak this morning

http://www.pattaya103.com/crude-oil-leak-thailand-rayong/

oil slick TV.jpg

Since when was Koh Chang off the coast of Rayong? I think you may have Koh Samet and Koh Chang mixed up there Tommy.

Edited July 28, 2013 by Orac

[sandrabbit]

the girlfriend has just said the oil's arrived here, Ban Phe area so it probably is going to hit Samet with the winds the way they are.

[tomyummer]

Just allow the oil to mix in with all the jet ski and motor boat emissions already there. No difference.

[TommyDee]

all the info is based on whats given out ..there are a few more photos in our story here, showing the extent of the leak this morning

http://www.pattaya103.com/crude-oil-leak-thailand-rayong/

oil slick TV.jpg

Since when was Koh Chang off the coast of Rayong? I think you may have Koh Samet and Koh Chang mixed up there Tommy.

thanks for that.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts and replies deleted. Please stay on topic.

[ratcatcher]

I am sure PTP's lawyers at this moment are preparing the paperwork to sue PTT for damaging the environment.

Since they are one and the same, that might be difficult.

[sammieuk1]

Looks like a normal pattaya sea

[dotpoom]

Can anyone please explain the following for me. About 4 years ago i was looking for a certain beach in Rayong and couldn't find it but ended up instead on this beach. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a pipe pouring what looked like tons of oil onto the beach, it appears it was coming from a tanker offshore, I took 18 pictures and as I didn't know who to show them to I sent them to the local papers here in Pattaya and to the Bangkok Post. Never got as much as an acknowledgement from any of them?

[SuwadeeS]

Thailand know very well, how to destroy their environment.

In fact, even they do have all the technology and gadgets, they do not behave like a modern society.

More a little like stone age. But still pretending to be so smart.

[Time Traveller]

Question for anyone that knows, it said it was PTT Global Chemical. This is a midstream company, it's unusual that they are involved in upstream production from an offshore platform?

PTT has various entities, PTTEP being the exploration and production company responsible for the Australian oil spill. I'm wondering if another entity - in this case PTT Global Chemical - was used as cover up for PTTEP as they are trying to acquire oil fields in other countries and a second oil spill wouldn't look good?

Edited July 28, 2013 by Time Traveller

[FLHR]

Those rigs & pipes out there in the Gulf (&Andaman) are always leaking. As said, they only give a $hit when it's big enough to become obvious.

[oldsailor35]

working to keep it from the beaches, because if no one sees it then it didn't really happen

Do not be so stupid. If this reaches the beaches , this is where it will do most damage and become much more difficulty to clean up.

[kimbathewhitelion]

For an overly polluted country, what's a little more black in the water adding to the bacteria infested murky green...and/or brown. Thailand as well as the rest of Asia is all about pollution over life, outside the "face" of world affairs.

[masuk]

..and no mention of the flora and fauna..... Rayong is also alive with prawn trawlers at night, so this might also be affected, but they're polluting the sea anyway with their discarded junk.

[oldsailor35]

It seems like the only official concern is that it'll reach beaches and adversely effect tourism. In the end, it's all about money.

One of the "Hang em high" platoon i guess !

[oldsailor35]

20kms SE of Map Ta Phut is around here.

Capture.JPG

Very helpful this. Thank you for your effort.

[oldsailor35]

News flash.

A large convoy of Jet Skis were spotted on the road from Pattaya to Rayong. Probably J/S operators hoping to help, or maybe get a new J/S out of it !

[Lite Beer]

Thai navy deployed to fight oil spill

BANGKOK, July 28, 2013 (AFP) - Thai naval vessels joined efforts Sunday to stop hundreds of barrels of oil from a pipeline leak in the Gulf of Thailand reaching the kingdom's beaches.

Roughly 50,000 litres of crude oil spilled into the sea on Saturday about 20 kilometers (12 miles) off the coast of the eastern province of Rayong, operator PTT Global Chemical said.

The company, part of state-owned giant PTT, said 10 ships were involved in an urgent clean-up and it was confident of containing the leak.

"The aerial photos taken early morning Sunday show that the area of the spill was reduced," the company said in a statement, estimating that up to about 20,000 litres had been cleaned up.

At the same time there were fears about the effect of the chemicals used to disperse the crude oil.

"We still have some concern about the chemical being used, even though it is clear that the oil leak will not reach the beaches or coral," said Phuchong Saritsadeechaikol, director of the government's Marine and Coastal Resource Conservation Center in Rayong.

Another PTT subsidiary was involved in a huge oil spill off northwestern Australia in 2009 that was the country's worst ever offshore drilling accident.

The slick from the Montara oil field spread as far as Indonesian waters and environmentalists said it grew to almost 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 square miles).

An Australian government inquiry blamed widespread and systematic shortcomings at the oil company for the spill.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2013-07-28

[pacovl46]

Get wool and let it suck it up. It's cheap, reliable, environmentally friendly unlike the binding shit they normally use and it can be reused as many times as needed.