Rayong oil spill: Caution urged over use of chemical dispersants

[webfact]

OIL SPILL
Caution urged over use of chemical dispersants
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- A leading marine expert yesterday urged care in the application of dispersants to contain the oil spill off Rayong's coast.

"When used in waters less than 20 metres deep, dispersants pose some risks," Thon Thamrongnawasawat of Kasetsart University's Faculty of Fisheries said.

He also called on authorities to release information on the chemicals and procedures used.

"Only then can local people get prepared for what's coming," he said.

The public should also be updated about the direction of the spill.

If it reaches the coast, the ecological damage will be enormous, he said.

Anond Snidvongs, director of the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, said the efficiency of the mitigation operations would determine the impact from the oil leak.

"Government agencies have already warned people and businesses that they need to stay away from or avoid using seawater in areas at risk," he said.

Associate Professor Suchana Chavanit, a coral-reef expert at Chulalongkorn University, said the clean-up should take no more than one week.


-- The Nation 2013-07-30

[noitom]

Yesterday the Thais were saying they had this nailed out at sea by the navy.

[jaltsc]

'Associate Professor Suchana Chavanit, a coral-reef expert at Chulalongkorn University, said the clean-up should take no more than one week.

Gee, yesterday some lackeys for the petroleum industry tried to downplay the damage and convince us on Thai Visa that: "...some sheen and particles may hit beaches..."

I think some "sheen and particles" which "may" hit the beaches would not need a week of chemical dispersant use to clean up the mess.

Edited July 30, 2013 by jaltsc

[IMA_FARANG]

Yesterday the Thais were saying they had this nailed out at sea by the navy.

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The common misconception by human beings ..... land dwelling mammals after all .... is that it doesn't come to the beach and is dispersed in the ocean it's no big problem.

Not so to the fish and marine life that unfortunately lives in that same ocean.

If human beings lived on the seabed then they wouldn't be so nonchalant about chemical dispersants and clumps of fuel oil and dispersants raining down on their home from a oil spill "nailed out at sea", would they.?

In fact BOTH an oil spill and the dispersants used to clean it up are a big problem for the fish and marine life that happen to live in the area.

An oil slick just doesn't magically go away because we can't see it. whether it is on the beach or in the ocean.

of course the experts are right, we must use dispersants to clear the oil.

But we shouldn't automatically assume because w can't see anything after we do use the dispersants, that now everything is gone ... no more problem.

It just doesn't work that way for the marine life.

[SuwadeeS]

I bet. It will not cleaned up properly, because they do not have the knowledge and experience. I am pissed off this country, because how they treat the environment.

[sandrabbit]

I'm surprised they never tried the old fashioned way with sodium or potassium bombs or something my girlfriend said yesterday, use cigarette lighters as she thought it would catch fire lol.

[NCC1701A]

there is no fixing this.

[Briggsy]

Now is the time to get that beachfront condo in Rayong real cheap.

[Secondmouse]

I'm surprised they never tried the old fashioned way with sodium or potassium bombs or something my girlfriend said yesterday, use cigarette lighters as she thought it would catch fire lol.

Actually, not too far from the truth....

I remember the grounding of the 'Torrey Canyon' off the Cornish coast just before the summer of 1967......She was fully loaded with crude at the time, my brother was an ATC at Culdrose, the Royal Navy station nearby.....he explained to me how they ended up bombing the slick with fireballs to burn off the majority of the oil therefore minimising the slick.....