Rayong oil spill: Toxic matter 'may enter food chain in 3 months'

[webfact]

OIL SPILL
Toxic matter 'may enter food chain in 3 months'
Pongphon Sarnsamak
The Nation


Officials deliver the waste collected at Koh Samet

Consumers advised to cook seafood thoroughly at a high temperature

BANGKOK: -- The state health agency has said it will study the impact of the oil spill on marine life around Koh Samet's Ao Phrao in Rayong province, saying toxic substances from the crude oil may enter the food chain in the next three months.

The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry has also set up a committee to monitor the environmental impacts of the spill.

"Chaired by the ministry's permanent secretary Chote Trachu, the committee comprises representatives from other relevant agencies such as the Pollution Control Department and the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning. Also on the panel are academics from many universities," Marine and Coastal Resources Department director-general Noppon Srisuk said yesterday.

His department has been given the job of assessing the leak's impact on coral reefs and sea grass around Koh Samet. The assignment also covers efforts to determine why marine life was found beached and dead in the area.

PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC), the company behind the spill, will kick off another cleaning session on Monday and is calling for volunteers.

Meanwhile, Disease Control Department director-general Dr Pornthep Siriwanarangsun will collect random samples of seafood around the affected areas to see if it is safe for consumption.

"It is too early to say the marine aquatic animals living around the affected areas have been tainted with hazardous substances such as lead, cadmium or nickel.

"It will take at least three months for marine life, such as plankton - the main food for many aquatic animals - to be contaminated," he said.

He also suggested that people cook seafood longer and at high temperatures to reduce any toxicity. Hazardous substances from the crude oil can have short-term health impacts such as dizziness and depression as well as longer-term problems such as effects on both red and white blood cells, Pornthep said.

Since the Ao Phrao beach clean-up began on Monday, the department reported that up to 70 workers had developed symptoms such as nausea and dizziness and had to be taken to hospital in Map Ta Phut. Officials have advised people participating in the clean-up not to spend more than eight hours at the affected site.

Close eye on health impacts

To monitor the impact the spilled oil is having on the cleaning team, officials have collected urine samples from some 1,275 people at the site.

The results should be released next week.

After five days since the crude oil washed up on the shores of Ao Phrao, sand that was completely black is now looking cleaner and is expected to return to its normal condition in the near future.

Meanwhile, more than 200 big bags containing oil-tainted sand were taken to the Siam City Cement factory for disposal.

Separately, Sumet Saithong, chief of the Khao Laem Ya-Koh Samet Marine National Park, said his team had surveyed up to 70 per cent of the coral reef in the area as of Thursday. The survey will be analysed by experts to see exactly what happened under the sea in the affected site and nearby areas.

PTTGC president Bowon Vongsinudom said Ao Phrao beach should be cleaned up by next week.

He added that all waste should be shipped out of the island by today under the watchful eye of the Pollution Control Department.

He also said the thin film of oil on the surface should naturally dissolve over time.

Government agencies will inspect the area once the cleanup is complete. Bowon said the company was in the process of drafting a rehabilitation plan, which requires the Rayong provincial authorities' approval.


-- The Nation 2013-08-03

[Thai at Heart]

Now here is a conundrum. What if they keep testing, the water and environment have been clean for years, and still the stuff keeps showing contaminants.

Don't say the water around Rayong has always been filthy?

[chooka]

Will make a nice side dish for the contaminated rice. A nice well rounded meal all wash down with a cool glass of tap water.

[Robby nz]

Meanwhile, more than 200 big bags containing oil-tainted sand were taken to the Siam City Cement factory for disposal.

What are they going to do with it at the cement factory, make concrete with it?

Beach sand is no good for making concrete, too much salt in it, even without the oil.

It was reported earlier that PTT said they would burn everything at a high temperature to avoid air pollution.

[Thai at Heart]

Meanwhile, more than 200 big bags containing oil-tainted sand were taken to the Siam City Cement factory for disposal.

What are they going to do with it at the cement factory, make concrete with it?

Beach sand is no good for making concrete, too much salt in it, even without the oil.

It was reported earlier that PTT said they would burn everything at a high temperature to avoid air pollution.

Incinerate it in the kilns. Very common practice.

[Emdog]

"have short-term health impacts such as dizziness and depression" Hmmm have I been eating contaminated food all along?

"affected areas have been tainted with hazardous substances such as lead, cadmium or nickel." My doctor did say I needed more cadmium in my diet... Seems this flies in the face of the "have it all cleaned up in a jiffy" standard spin.

[noitom]

It's amazing that Thais escape world wide coverage of this devastating and global scale environmental damage and risk. Given that Thai seafood is a big export it is bewildering that there is little if any coverage of high probability of Thai shrimp and tuna contamination. The US and Europe should be watching this and stop Thai imports of seafood for a year.

Thais were all ecstatic when Katrina brought New Orleans shrimping to a standstill. It was touted as a boom for Thai shrimp. Now we'll see what goes around comes around. It's a certainty that the Japanese won't be importing too much Thai shrimp for a while. The Japanese watch these contamination issues closely.

[nong38]

Chaing Mai is a good place to live, I think I will go there in the next few days, just to be on the safe side.

[hubahuba]

Meanwhile, more than 200 big bags containing oil-tainted sand were taken to the Siam City Cement factory for disposal.

What are they going to do with it at the cement factory, make concrete with it?

Beach sand is no good for making concrete, too much salt in it, even without the oil.

It was reported earlier that PTT said they would burn everything at a high temperature to avoid air pollution.

Incinerate it in the kilns. Very common practice.

Burning even at high temperature produces the bi product smoke. Smoke is carbon. What do they do with that???

[cup-O-coffee]

Why bother. The best you can come up with now is "may"!

And now you will form committees and teams so you can eventually say "may" in the near future.

What a plumb job; to be able to say "may / might / should" while never really doing anything certain.

[jamhar]

BANGKOK: -- The state health agency has said it will study the impact of the oil spill on marine life around Koh Samet's Ao Phrao in Rayong province, saying toxic substances from the crude oil may enter the food chain in the next three months

On the plus side, to grill fish, all you have to do is strike a match

the food is its own cooking fuel!

[bbradsby]

Now, with my handy Thai Govt Ministerial Decree decoder iPhone app, what he really said was... :

There ARE ALREADY heavy metals in the sea life starting with the plankton immediately upon contact with the toxic petrochemicals, and these will be moving on up the food chain immediately thereafter as said plankton are eaten, and that no normal amount of cooking will likely remove the carcinogenic heavy metals from the flesh & fat of seafood. Eat no Gulf seafood for at least a year.

[RajendarMangalagiri]

Is this going to affect the Seafood in Pattaya?

[BlackJack]

no mention of the dispersents

i think these are more toxic than the sill

Where's Chalerm on all this

he should know how to fix it

[Thai at Heart]

Meanwhile, more than 200 big bags containing oil-tainted sand were taken to the Siam City Cement factory for disposal.

What are they going to do with it at the cement factory, make concrete with it?

Beach sand is no good for making concrete, too much salt in it, even without the oil.

It was reported earlier that PTT said they would burn everything at a high temperature to avoid air pollution.

Incinerate it in the kilns. Very common practice.

Burning even at high temperature produces the bi product smoke. Smoke is carbon. What do they do with that???

Cement kilns run at very high temperature and usually have scrubbing technology. Hazardous waste is commonly disposed in this way globally.

[elzach]

So some concrete information and advice folks? As in, where does the seafood in BKK come from?? Specifically the seafood in restaurants and food courts?

Thanks!

[DGIE]

Even if you cook the fish thoroughly or in longer time, how about the smell

of the oil in it?

[DGIE]

But I am sure that the fish we buy at, for example Lotus, Big-C..., are safe because they will screen what they are going to sell. They are strict for that. Unless those fishes tha are sold in wet market, we are not sure of that.

[Thai at Heart]

But I am sure that the fish we buy at, for example Lotus, Big-C..., are safe because they will screen what they are going to sell. They are strict for that. Unless those fishes tha are sold in wet market, we are not sure of that.

Are you kidding? If it's from Rayong don't eat it.

[thaimat]

Is this going to affect the Seafood in Pattaya?

Of course not, local fisherman are so focused on catching only clean seafood, as are Pattaya area's seafood restaurants focused on serving only clean seafood, care not about making money. So they'll be catching all the seafood for Pattaya in Issan now.

[bigbamboo]

So that's Thai seafood off the menu as well as Thai rice.

Just as well I like noodles.

[thaimat]

But I am sure that the fish we buy at, for example Lotus, Big-C..., are safe because they will screen what they are going to sell. They are strict for that. Unless those fishes tha are sold in wet market, we are not sure of that.

Are you kidding? If it's from Rayong don't eat it.

Safe? Are you joking? Or do you mean safe for them to sell? Because in no way are those safe to eat. You think stores test every batch of fish they buy for toxins, how could they?

[midas]

We now also have high levels of radiation pouring into the Pacific Ocean from the Fukishima plant ( which they haven't got a clue about how to stop ) as well as who knows what long-term effects from all the Corexit used at the BP oil spill.

How much can the oceanlife withstand from all these disasters?

[jpeg]

Consumers advised to cook seafood thoroughly at a high temperature

Cook seafood 'thoroughly' ?!

[belg]

seriously ?

the plankton can eat 3 months of chemicals and only after 90 days they will get sick ?

[Thai at Heart]

Why don't they just say, avoid seafood.

Cook it longer, but you may get a dizzy spell? Idiotic

[Torrens54]

I saw some of these Clowns trying to clean-up the well oiled-sand, using small Hand-sized Gardening spades.... what'll they do next, perhaps try to Bail the entire Ocean into a garbage bin using a Tespoon?

Can you imagine these efforts to clean-up being watched around the world and people wondering just how stupid Thailand's Emergency Service Management is? We are the laughing stock of the world when we allow idiots to run the "clen-up."

[DeepInTheForest]

What are they going to do with it at the cement factory, make concrete with it?

Beach sand is no good for making concrete, too much salt in it, even without the oil.

It was reported earlier that PTT said they would burn everything at a high temperature to avoid air pollution.

Incinerate it in the kilns. Very common practice.

Burning even at high temperature produces the bi product smoke. Smoke is carbon. What do they do with that???

Cement kilns run at very high temperature and usually have scrubbing technology. Hazardous waste is commonly disposed in this way globally.

They "usually have scrubbing technology", huh? Somehow that does not reassure.

From a report by the US's National Public Radio:

EPA air records show that the Ash Grove cement kiln in Chanute emitted more than 500 pounds of mercury a year in three of the past 10 years, when the plant was operating at capacity. Total mercury emissions for the past decade top 3,000 pounds.

"That would compare to the 170 pounds of mercury a year at a major coal-fired power plant," Volland adds.

http://www.npr.org/2011/11/10/142183546/epa-regulations-give-kilns-permission-to-pollute

That's a lot of mercury that's not being removed by scrubbers in the USA. Do we think that Thailand will have superior technology on their kilns?

Edited August 3, 2013 by DeepInTheForest

[elzach]

But I am sure that the fish we buy at, for example Lotus, Big-C..., are safe because they will screen what they are going to sell. They are strict for that. Unless those fishes tha are sold in wet market, we are not sure of that.

Are you kidding? If it's from Rayong don't eat it.

ok, so how do we know what is from Rayong area??

Let's be specific folks. What seafood in BKK comes from Rayong area vs. the Andaman sea (if any) vs. south Thailand waters. Also supermarkets vs. restaurants / food courts.

[Thai at Heart]

What are they going to do with it at the cement factory, make concrete with it?

Beach sand is no good for making concrete, too much salt in it, even without the oil.

It was reported earlier that PTT said they would burn everything at a high temperature to avoid air pollution.

Incinerate it in the kilns. Very common practice.

Burning even at high temperature produces the bi product smoke. Smoke is carbon. What do they do with that???

Cement kilns run at very high temperature and usually have scrubbing technology. Hazardous waste is commonly disposed in this way globally.

They "usually have scrubbing technology", huh? Somehow that does not reassure.

From a report by the US's National Public Radio:

EPA air records show that the Ash Grove cement kiln in Chanute emitted more than 500 pounds of mercury a year in three of the past 10 years, when the plant was operating at capacity. Total mercury emissions for the past decade top 3,000 pounds.

"That would compare to the 170 pounds of mercury a year at a major coal-fired power plant," Volland adds.

http://www.npr.org/2011/11/10/142183546/epa-regulations-give-kilns-permission-to-pollute

That's a lot of mercury that's not being removed by scrubbers in the USA. Do we think that Thailand will have superior technology on their kilns?

They have been shipping and burning oily waste to Saraburi for donkeys years. This bit of oil is probably some of the less toxic stuff.