Samet oil slick: Experts scoff at PTTGC's response

[webfact]

OIL SLICK
Experts scoff at PTTGC's response
Hataikarn Treesuwan
The Nation



RAYONG: -- When the oil first leaked from the PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) offshore platform near Rayong on Saturday, relevant officials decided to deploy a 200-metre boom to contain the spill, which later proved to be far too short.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a PTTGC staff member said this 200-metre boom was the only size available in large ships.

"But we also inflated spare booms to deal with the spill," the source, who is part of the PTTGC emergency-response team, added.

Later, in response to a model assessment produced by the Pollution Control Department, the team put out a 1,200-metre boom about 1,000 metres from Koh Samet's Ao Phrao beach.

The PTTGC staff member added that after the booms were deployed, oil skimmers were also put into action. In addition, boats and aircraft have been spraying dispersant chemicals on Sunday.

"We have been proceeding in line with international practice on responding to oil spills," he said, adding that nobody thought the oil would wash up at the Ao Phrao beach on Sunday night.

"In fact, we believed we could stop the oil about 4 kilometres from Ao Phrao," he said, adding that the oil was possibly pushed toward the beach by high tides and strong winds.

He added that since Thailand did not have chemical-spraying aircraft, PTTGC had to wait for help from Singapore-based Oil Spill Response Ltd. "The aircraft started spraying the chemicals at about 3pm on Sunday," he said. "By then, the oil slick had already spread over quite a wide area."

Dispersants 'safe'

He went on to say that he was confident the dispersants would not affect the coral or marine life because the droplets would go just a metre or two under the surface of the seawater.

"At that depth, the chemical won't reach the abode of aquatic animals. Then within three to four weeks, sunlight and bacteria will naturally dispose of all those droplets," he said.

However, academics remain unconvinced.

Phaitoon Mokkongpai, a researcher at Burapha University, explained that the coral around Koh Samet did not lie that deep below the water surface. "Most of them will be affected," he said.

Thon Thamrongnawasawat of Kasetsart University's Faculty of Fisheries said several studies show that when chemicals are used in waters less than 20 metres deep, they pose some risks.

According to Phaitoon, the PTTGC boom was also shorter than is required, which explained why the spill spread. "If you ask me, PTTGC's response was not the best," Phaitoon said.


-- The Nation 2013-08-01

[NongKhaiKid]

Oil slick, what oil slick ?

[HoudiniXLogic]

I remember the one where the PTT spokesperson insisting that "nature will clean itself over time. We dont have to do anything?"

[canardo]

Does somebody have seen an updated satellite photo? The latest I know off, is the attached but 2 days old already...

[pattjock]

All pictures published by GISTDA can be found here:

http://www.gistda.or.th/gistda_n/

Latest picture is from yesterday

[monty1412]

I shouldn't be surprised.. I know this is Thailand but can anyone tell me why PTT does not have a disaster response plan in place for such events.

Why does a huge corporate like PTT not have the ability to cognitively think about this .

OK we have an offshore crude oil feed line

The feed line at x pressure and y viscosity of product and z diameter of line is capable of delivery X litres of oil per minute.

If the line was breached at any point in the undersea section then we can turn off land based valves within A minutes.

This then would mean that maximum potential oil spill would be X litres/ min x A minutes = Y litres

For purpose of good environmental practice and corporate stewardship inflate this figure by 50% = 1.5Y litres

To contain 1.5Y litres we would need T metres of deployable boom. ( T metres of boom also configured on the nature of the oil being moved and its relative viscosity and surface film thickness on salt water)

Part of this deployment process is linked to National Meteorology site so we can interface with prevailing winds and tide action so as to be able to place boom in front of oil slick.

Land based valve is tested twice monthly to ensure it is operable within given time allocation.

Complete disaster handling plan 101 in place, signed and checked off and operators at site are cognisant of plan and of actions required.

Additional Plan 101A in place to cope with oil slick once PLan 101 of suitable boom deployment has been satisfactorily achieved.

To not have suitable boom capability when they know potential size of any oil leak is environmental negligence in its extreme.

So why does PTT not have this.... because they don't have to thats why.... PTT is about profits and in particular one particular shareholders interest. Oil companies around the world are now required to have sustainable and meaningful disaster response plans in place... for PTT to not have enough boom controls when its sooo easy to work out just what is needed is just criminal. I d hope the affected folks in Koh Samui start a joint class action against these environmental hoodlums and I hope the current government has enough balls to take PTT through the wringer

Alas however it is Thailand and my obvious western views on this are just that.... PTT will claim it wasn't their fault and prevailing weather conditions attributed to the disaster, that they did have a disaster plan in place but it wasn't able to cope with this particular disaster. Folks on Koh Samui whose livelihood will be offered a monthly subscription to the local som tam cart as compensation and the government will launch a vigorous probe into the disaster which will find nothing more than what PTT has said which shouldn't surprise anyone as the same large investor in PTT also has a similarly large investment in how the government operates.

[TackyToo]

The Thai logic seems to be: what’s the need for a country that only has 2.710 km coastline to have an aircraft capable of spraying dispersants to the sea?

Singapore (coastline 268 km) has several of these aircrafts!

Oh I forgot, the money was going to much more needed important life and environment saving tools like an aircraft carrier with no planes and Blimps that can’t get off the ground. Maybe the woman in half charge should consider equipping one of the new 4 planes for the MPs with such equipment…

[USNret]

Winds & tides in the ocean? Who woulda thunk?

[jmccarty]

I shouldn't be surprised.. I know this is Thailand but can anyone tell me why PTT does not have a disaster response plan in place for such events.

Why does a huge corporate like PTT not have the ability to cognitively think about this .

OK we have an offshore crude oil feed line

The feed line at x pressure and y viscosity of product and z diameter of line is capable of delivery X litres of oil per minute.

If the line was breached at any point in the undersea section then we can turn off land based valves within A minutes.

This then would mean that maximum potential oil spill would be X litres/ min x A minutes = Y litres

For purpose of good environmental practice and corporate stewardship inflate this figure by 50% = 1.5Y litres

To contain 1.5Y litres we would need T metres of deployable boom. ( T metres of boom also configured on the nature of the oil being moved and its relative viscosity and surface film thickness on salt water)

Part of this deployment process is linked to National Meteorology site so we can interface with prevailing winds and tide action so as to be able to place boom in front of oil slick.

Land based valve is tested twice monthly to ensure it is operable within given time allocation.

Complete disaster handling plan 101 in place, signed and checked off and operators at site are cognisant of plan and of actions required.

Additional Plan 101A in place to cope with oil slick once PLan 101 of suitable boom deployment has been satisfactorily achieved.

To not have suitable boom capability when they know potential size of any oil leak is environmental negligence in its extreme.

So why does PTT not have this.... because they don't have to thats why.... PTT is about profits and in particular one particular shareholders interest. Oil companies around the world are now required to have sustainable and meaningful disaster response plans in place... for PTT to not have enough boom controls when its sooo easy to work out just what is needed is just criminal. I d hope the affected folks in Koh Samui start a joint class action against these environmental hoodlums and I hope the current government has enough balls to take PTT through the wringer

Alas however it is Thailand and my obvious western views on this are just that.... PTT will claim it wasn't their fault and prevailing weather conditions attributed to the disaster, that they did have a disaster plan in place but it wasn't able to cope with this particular disaster. Folks on Koh Samui whose livelihood will be offered a monthly subscription to the local som tam cart as compensation and the government will launch a vigorous probe into the disaster which will find nothing more than what PTT has said which shouldn't surprise anyone as the same large investor in PTT also has a similarly large investment in how the government operates.

Mostly agree, but geography is a ways off!

[ratcatcher]

[boomerangutang]

The primary function of officials is to try and paint as rosy a picture as possible - when things go wrong. Even more distressing; there are still VIPs in gov't and big business who want Thailand to go nuclear.

[GirlDrinkDrunk]

ok, i have read the OP three times now and have yet to find the part where experts scoff

[Tatsujin]

I shouldn't be surprised.. I know this is Thailand but can anyone tell me why PTT does not have a disaster response plan in place for such events.

Why does a huge corporate like PTT not have the ability to cognitively think about this .

OK we have an offshore crude oil feed line

The feed line at x pressure and y viscosity of product and z diameter of line is capable of delivery X litres of oil per minute.

If the line was breached at any point in the undersea section then we can turn off land based valves within A minutes.

This then would mean that maximum potential oil spill would be X litres/ min x A minutes = Y litres

For purpose of good environmental practice and corporate stewardship inflate this figure by 50% = 1.5Y litres

To contain 1.5Y litres we would need T metres of deployable boom. ( T metres of boom also configured on the nature of the oil being moved and its relative viscosity and surface film thickness on salt water)

Part of this deployment process is linked to National Meteorology site so we can interface with prevailing winds and tide action so as to be able to place boom in front of oil slick.

Land based valve is tested twice monthly to ensure it is operable within given time allocation.

Complete disaster handling plan 101 in place, signed and checked off and operators at site are cognisant of plan and of actions required.

Additional Plan 101A in place to cope with oil slick once PLan 101 of suitable boom deployment has been satisfactorily achieved.

To not have suitable boom capability when they know potential size of any oil leak is environmental negligence in its extreme.

So why does PTT not have this.... because they don't have to thats why.... PTT is about profits and in particular one particular shareholders interest. Oil companies around the world are now required to have sustainable and meaningful disaster response plans in place... for PTT to not have enough boom controls when its sooo easy to work out just what is needed is just criminal. I d hope the affected folks in Koh Samui start a joint class action against these environmental hoodlums and I hope the current government has enough balls to take PTT through the wringer

Alas however it is Thailand and my obvious western views on this are just that.... PTT will claim it wasn't their fault and prevailing weather conditions attributed to the disaster, that they did have a disaster plan in place but it wasn't able to cope with this particular disaster. Folks on Koh Samui whose livelihood will be offered a monthly subscription to the local som tam cart as compensation and the government will launch a vigorous probe into the disaster which will find nothing more than what PTT has said which shouldn't surprise anyone as the same large investor in PTT also has a similarly large investment in how the government operates.

I like your thinking . . . but it's a western way of looking at things . . . Thai's often don't seem to be able to think past the next 5 minutes, let alone plan for something which they KNOW will never happen (until it does).

[gwynt]

_{Seems like the world in general is seeing a much more honest report of the disaster}

_{Oil Spill Blackens Thai Island Beaches}

_{theatlantic.com}

[spermwhale]

Proper risk management dictates that PTT should have on hand a plane like the one in Singapore. PTT was a professionally run company until they kicked out all of the farang from top management about two decades ago.

[GentlemanJim]

_{Seems like the world in general is seeing a much more honest report of the disaster}

_{Oil Spill Blackens Thai Island Beaches}

_{theatlantic.com}

I was just going to post that link. Well spotted. Everyone should take a look for some truly (emphasis on the word True!) horrific pictures of what this 'small' spill has done (you know, the one that is going to be cleared up in 3 days!). The chief execs should do jail time for their response to this and the PM should be back to handle this crisis.

[yooyoo]

I remember the one where the PTT spokesperson insisting that "nature will clean itself over time. We dont have to do anything?"

Typical... its the Thai way of doing things...if you cant handle it then ignore it !

[Payboy]

Samet oil slick: Experts scoff at PTTGC's response

And those are just the TV board members.

[cloghead]

"Sorasak Saensombat, director-general of the Marine Department, said yesterday that he had ordered PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) to stop using chemicals since Monday".

Next sentence...

"However, PTTGC has insisted that the chemical it is using to disperse the oil spreading over the Gulf of Thailand is safe for the environment and complied with the Pollution Control Department regulations".

Apparently PTTGC didn't get Khun Sorasak's memo

Edited August 1, 2013 by cloghead

[Totster]

ok, i have read the OP three times now and have yet to find the part where experts scoff

The experts were actually ramming cakes into their mouths at the time..

totster

[Neilly]

All pictures published by GISTDA can be found here:

http://www.gistda.or.th/gistda_n/

Latest picture is from yesterday

http://www.gistda.or.th/gistda_n/dmdocuments/oilspill-csk3-20130801/oilspill_CSK3_20130801.pdf

[ableguy]

I shouldn't be surprised.. I know this is Thailand but can anyone tell me why PTT does not have a disaster response plan in place for such events.

Why does a huge corporate like PTT not have the ability to cognitively think about this .

OK we have an offshore crude oil feed line

The feed line at x pressure and y viscosity of product and z diameter of line is capable of delivery X litres of oil per minute.

If the line was breached at any point in the undersea section then we can turn off land based valves within A minutes.

This then would mean that maximum potential oil spill would be X litres/ min x A minutes = Y litres

For purpose of good environmental practice and corporate stewardship inflate this figure by 50% = 1.5Y litres

To contain 1.5Y litres we would need T metres of deployable boom. ( T metres of boom also configured on the nature of the oil being moved and its relative viscosity and surface film thickness on salt water)

Part of this deployment process is linked to National Meteorology site so we can interface with prevailing winds and tide action so as to be able to place boom in front of oil slick.

Land based valve is tested twice monthly to ensure it is operable within given time allocation.

Complete disaster handling plan 101 in place, signed and checked off and operators at site are cognisant of plan and of actions required.

Additional Plan 101A in place to cope with oil slick once PLan 101 of suitable boom deployment has been satisfactorily achieved.

To not have suitable boom capability when they know potential size of any oil leak is environmental negligence in its extreme.

So why does PTT not have this.... because they don't have to thats why.... PTT is about profits and in particular one particular shareholders interest. Oil companies around the world are now required to have sustainable and meaningful disaster response plans in place... for PTT to not have enough boom controls when its sooo easy to work out just what is needed is just criminal. I d hope the affected folks in Koh Samui start a joint class action against these environmental hoodlums and I hope the current government has enough balls to take PTT through the wringer

Alas however it is Thailand and my obvious western views on this are just that.... PTT will claim it wasn't their fault and prevailing weather conditions attributed to the disaster, that they did have a disaster plan in place but it wasn't able to cope with this particular disaster. Folks on Koh Samui whose livelihood will be offered a monthly subscription to the local som tam cart as compensation and the government will launch a vigorous probe into the disaster which will find nothing more than what PTT has said which shouldn't surprise anyone as the same large investor in PTT also has a similarly large investment in how the government operates.

Where do you think you live ?????????