Samet region to be tested for a year: Pollution Control Department

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ENVIRONMENT
Samet region to be tested for a year: PCD
Suriyan Panyawai,
Janjira Pongrai,
Jumpol Nikomrak
The Nation



More than 560 want compensation after oil spill, minister says

BANGKOK: -- The Pollution Control Department (PCD) will test the quality of seawater and air around Khao Laem Ya-Mu Koh Samet National Park for one year, after the oil leak in the Gulf last week.

More than 560 entrepreneurs and other people affected by the leak have sought compensation so far from Rayong provincial office. Energy Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal has said hotels will be first to be compensated.

PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) has promised to compensate all those affected.

Meanwhile, PTT board chairman Pranpree Bahiddha-Nukara said the group had decided to revise its overall risk management and use this incident as a lesson learned. Each board director has been tasked with drawing up a new risk-management plan that set higher standards for the group.

On July 27, about 50 tonnes of crude oil reportedly leaked from an offshore pipeline owned by the firm. The oil slick reached Koh Samet's Ao Phrao and affected nearby areas.

As of yesterday, PCD director-general Wichien Jungrungruang was convinced that the cleanup mission at Ao Phrao was more than 95 per cent complete.

A film of oil had disappeared from the sea surface. Divers who checked coral reefs at a spot north of Ao Phrao said no coral had died. Around Khao Laem Ya and Ao Phe, seagrass showed no signs of being affected.

However, Wichien said it was too soon to conclude that it was safe for people to use the affected area now.

"To the naked eye the situation may look fine, but we have to conduct further tests to be sure that things are really all right," Wichien said.

He said tests of seawater samples collected from Ao Phrao showed that the seawater did not have any contaminant.

"But we will conduct tests at 18 spots around Koh Samet too and the results will come out by August 13," Wichien said.

Starting from mid-August, the PCD will collect samples from affected beach and sea areas to determine whether they are contaminated with total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

"These tests will continue for one year," he said.

He added that air-quality tests for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) would run around-the-clock until the end of this month.

Tourism and Environment Promotion Association president Sutta Hemasathon said several groups in Rayong were now preparing "Friends Help Friends" activities to help businesses hit hard by the oil spill.

"For example, we will hold the Big Cleaning Day and Seafood Party on all Rayong beaches," he said.

He said the oil spill had hit tourism operators, ferry operators, restaurant owners, fishermen and seafood-related entrepreneurs.

"Sales at my restaurant dropped by more than Bt10,000 from Bt40,000 a day," Nok Kaeo Seafood Shop owner Kanitta Sridongrak said.

On compensation, Pongsak said yesterday that hotels would be the first to be compensated, without having to wait for consideration by a compensation panel.

They were directly hit by the oil spill and it was easiest to estimate their losses, he said.

Compensation for fishermen and others is pending approval by the compensation committee, which is chaired by the Rayong governor.

Pongsak said that a forensic team found a trace of exterior damage in the offshore pipeline's flexible hose, suggesting human error was to blame.

He also insisted that the volume of the oil leak was only 50,000 litres, based on a calculation of the hose’s diameter and pressure.

"Some based their estimate on the volume of dispersant used. At 33,000 litres, the dispersant can dissolve over 180,000 litres of oil.

"The fact is that the volume of dispersant was huge, due to the extended oil spill area and the dispersant was spread from the air.

"That doesn't mean the leaked volume was as high as feared," he said.


-- The Nation 2013-08-06

[NongKhaiKid]

I don't see any mention of testing marine life especially seafood.

Maybe these tests will be conducted over the time frame mentioned but how about the results, will they always be " positive " irrespective of the truth ?

[Thai at Heart]

I don't see any mention of testing marine life especially seafood.

Maybe these tests will be conducted over the time frame mentioned but how about the results, will they always be " positive " irrespective of the truth ?

God knows what they are going to find beyond the oil.

[jonclark]

Interesting so now its 50 tonnes of crude oil not 50'000 liters as originally stated by PTTP - I'm not sure what the conversion ratio for tonnes of crude oil into liters of crude oil. But a quick google search shows 50 tonnes of water = 50916.2080000 liters of water

Anyone any ideas?

Could it be that PTTP have told the Thai public utter <deleted> in their hast to cover this up.

[MaxLee]

I think they have just cleaned the surface, and screw the rest that is below,

Edited August 6, 2013 by MaxLee

[rovinman]

1 ton of crude oil is actually 1136.4 litres

Therefore 50 tons are 56,800 litres,

So approximately the same, but we have to see what the long term effects are

[jamhar]

if my memory servers me correctly

1cc or water is 1g making 1 liter= 1 kg

1000liters =1 metric ton (i believe)

and

50,000 liters would equal 50 metric tons

But thats with water. Crude has a different density so the numbers will change due to that.

50,000 liters is just a guess. They actually dont know how much was spilt.

Theres no gauge to measure that at the source of the leak.

Its just a WAG (wild ass guess) by the company.

I took that number to mean "within an order of magnitude".

That is, that the guess is probably not more than 10x of actual.

But since the company was putting out the numbers, they took the low side of the "WAG",

New guesses from others places the spill at 2 to 4 times the 50,000 number

based of examination of the satellite data.

Regardless of using the 50,000 number or new estimates from satellite data

this is stil a "small" spill in global terms.

Albeit, devastating to north east Somet and the waters in the region.

[jamhar]

I think they have just cleaned the surface, and screw the rest that is below,

While coming back to the island the other day,

I saw a fisheries boat taking sea bottom samples near shore.

Yep i was shocked to see that they were ACTUALLY THERE!

A good sign! But lets see how attentive they are after the press loses its attention on the subject,

Still the fact they were there is a good sign and a good start. I'm hopeful.

I'm hopeful because altho most other may move on from this topic, the scientists at the fisheries , I believe, will stay vigilant

I got my fingers crossed for good luck.

[jaffacake32]

I've been on samet the last couple of weeks, starting yesterday noticed a lot of bubbles in the water near tub Tim, looks like the kind of bubbles from detergent. Not sure if it might be the chemicals used to disperse the oil? Also did the slow boat to ban phe yesterday and saw a lot of the same kind of thing, big patches of bubbles across the surface of the sea.

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