Oil spill off Changi East: Singapore reports on local situation

Rain could hamper oil spill clean-up
Liew Hanqing & Grace Chua Straits Times 28 May 10;

SHOWERS over the weekend could impede efforts to contain the oil spill from Tuesday morning's collision between two large vessels off the Changi coast.

Mr Foong Chee Leong, the National Environment Agency's (NEA) director-general of meteorological services, said weather conditions over the weekend could result in 'rough seas' carrying more oil patches towards the coastline.

The collision spilled 2,500 tonnes of crude oil which has been swept towards shore by winds and tides, coating beaches in a 7.2 km stretch from East Coast Park's Big Splash water park to Changi.

Short intervals of rain with thunder are expected this afternoon, with rain also expected in the late mornings and early afternoons tomorrow and Sunday, Mr Foong said.

At a joint press conference with national water agency PUB yesterday, Mr Foong said conditions over the last two days had not helped things. 'The wind has been blowing the oil slick towards land,' he said.

Mr Joseph Hui, NEA's director-general of environmental protection, said 'full resources' had been deployed in the clean-up effort.

Yesterday, more than 40 cleaning staff from NEA and 125 workers from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) continued to clean up the spill.

Dispersants were used to break up the oil into smaller globules, and contaminated sand was removed from the beach.

Some 8.6 tonnes of sand was removed from East Coast beach and taken to the Semakau landfill, Mr Hui said. But oil continues to wash ashore, said Mr Tai Ji Choong, NEA's head of operations.

The MPA explained that the oil tanker Bunga Kelana 3 had to move about 4.5 nautical miles westwards from the site of the collision, some 13km offshore, to anchor in a safe area.

That spread the oil over an area the size of Tampines New Town (four sq km).

Containment booms have held in the oil leaking from the tanker, which was loaded with 62,000 tonnes of crude oil, but not the oil that had spread into the slick, said an MPA spokesman.

The agency could not estimate how much oil had been cleaned up, but said it was 'monitoring our waters closely'.

Aside from the oil already on shore, several patches of oil afloat off the eastern coast are being buffeted in different directions with tides and winds and have to be cleaned up as well, the MPA said.

The NEA promised to 'carry out a thorough study later on' of the impact of the spill on wildlife.

Conservationists from the WildSingapore website and the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society have found oil-slicked creatures like crabs, some of them dead, and bleaching corals in Tanah Merah and East Coast Park.

Nine canals and outlet drains close to the affected stretch at East Coast were also oil-slicked. To prevent more oil from entering the canals and drains, PUB booms were placed yesterday across all nine affected conduits.

The PUB said the oil would not pollute Singapore's water supply, as the canals and outlet drains are not connected to catchment areas, and Singapore does not get drinking water from these conduits.

Vapour from oil 'not toxic'
Air samples show no unsafe chemicals: NEA
Grace Chua Straits Times 28 May 10;

IT STINKS but it will not hurt, the National Environment Agency (NEA) yesterday assured residents still catching whiffs of the noxious vapours in the air from Tuesday's oil spill.

Workers scooping up oil-soaked sand into garbage bags at East Coast Park yesterday. Some residents had complained of a smell coming from the oil spill. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG

The agency said its twice-daily samples of the air along oil-soaked stretches of the East Coast beach have not shown up any chemicals to be concerned about.

These include toluene, benzene, xylene, styrene and 1,3-butadiene, solvents or components in the manufacture of plastics or other materials.

Crude oil, such as that from Tuesday's spill, contains these compounds.

The human nose can perceive foul odours at very low levels, before they can be picked up by instrumentation and well before they reach dangerous levels, said NEA.

For example, the chemical toluene can be smelled at 0.16 parts per million, it added.

But it can be detected only at one part per million - the equivalent of one drop of water in a 50-litre tank. The safe limit for toluene is 50 times that, or 50 parts per million.

'Our nose is an extremely sensitive instrument,' said NEA director-general of environmental pollution Joseph Hui. 'It can detect these chemicals at concentrations that cannot be detected by other instruments.'

When vaporised, oil can irritate the airways and trigger asthma. Exposure to high levels of volatile chemicals can cause irritation, nausea, dizziness and other effects, said allergy expert and paediatrician Lee Bee Wah.

The chemicals can constitute an occupational hazard for people who often work with these compounds in confined spaces, such as professional house painters.

Dr Lee commented that the current spill was not in an enclosed area, so the fumes from the spill were likely to disperse quite fast.

'Also, the spill is finite - it's not like the haze which can linger for a long time. Probably, the effects on the ecosystem are worse,' she added.

So far, she said, she had not seen any patients who complained of oil-related respiratory problems.

Singapore's water supply safe from oil spill
Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid Channel NewsAsia 27 May 10;

SINGAPORE : Singapore's water supply is safe from the oil spill, following the collision of two vessels on Tuesday.

The oil spill has seeped into some drains along the East Coast Park, but Singapore's water agency PUB said water quality has not been affected.

Officials from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have also met to discuss clean-up efforts.

The oil slick has affected drains along East Coast Park - one of which is the Siglap Canal.

But there is no reason to worry that contaminated water will flow to your taps at home.

Goh Chong Hoon, deputy director, Catchment & Waterways, PUB, said: "The outlet drains are all not linked to any reservoirs. So the water quality of the is are not affected by this oil spill incident.

"Yesterday, when PUB was informed of the oil slick coming into the beach, we immediately deployed our contractors, and about 5pm, we started laying oil absorbents booms at the outlet drains."

An outlet drain at Bayshore Road has been the one most affected so far. Efforts to remove the oil slick from the drain took place on Thursday morning.

Mr Goh said: "We also brought in a vacuum tanker to pump the thick oil that was found in one of the canals (at Bayshore Road) this morning. We will continue to monitor the situation and continue to clean up the outlets drains."

The authorities said the oil slick is unlikely to spread to more parts of Singapore.

The beach areas at Changi and Sentosa, for example, are safe.

The slick is still limited to the 7.2-kilometre stretch along East Coast beach and rock bund near Changi Naval Base. And affected beach areas remain closed to the public.

Joseph Hui, director-general, Environmental Protection, National Environment Agency (NEA), said: "We managed to clean up quite a fair bit of what came in yesterday, but a new oil patch came in around 2 this afternoon, so the situation now is similar to what it was yesterday. But efforts to clean up are continuing and we are sparing no efforts."

NEA said the situation is still fluid as new oil patches may come in, depending on currents and wind situation. So, officers have been deployed at East Coast Beach, Changi Beach and Pulau Ubin to carry out surveillance.

NEA said some 8.5 tonnes of sand contaminated by the oil were been removed during cleaning operations on Wednesday.

NEA added that the smell coming from the oil slick does not pose any harmful effects.

Meanwhile, efforts to contain and clean up the oil slick surrounding ground zero are ongoing.

The Maritime and Port Authority said there has been no further report of oil leaking from the vessel.

But as a precautionary measure, the containment boom placed around the vessel will remain in place until the tanker is certified safe to be moved.

Some 2,500 tonnes of oil had leaked into the sea.

Traffic in the Traffic Separation Scheme of the Singapore Straits remains unaffected. Containment booms have also been laid at Changi Naval Base, off Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal and South of Pulau Tekong.

Officials from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia also met to discuss the incident, and cooperate in the clean-up efforts. - CNA/ms

Water supply safe from spill
Water quality unaffected despite oil spill seeping into some drains, says PUB
Hetty Musfirah Today Online 28 May 10;

SINGAPORE - As patches of oil drifted further inland - appearing in some drains and canals along the East Coast following the oil slick which hit Singapore's shoreline on Wednesday - PUB, the national water agency, has said Singapore's water supply is safe. This assurance came as clean-up operations continued for a second day on beaches in the East Coast, with some 230 workers mobilised for the task.

Mr Goh Chong Hoon, PUB's deputy director for catchment and waterways, said there was no reason to worry that contaminated water would flow to taps at home. "The outlet drains are all not linked to any reservoirs."

When PUB was informed of the oil slick reaching the beaches, it immediately deployed its contractors and "started laying oil absorbents booms at the outlet drains", said Mr Goh. At one of the most affected drains at Bayshore Road, workers could be seen yesterday morning removing the oil slick. Mr Goh said: "We brought in a vacuum tanker to pump the thick oil found in one of the canals (at Bayshore Road)."

The 7.2-kilometre stretch along East Coast beach and the rock bund near Changi Naval Base affected by the oil spill remain closed to the public.

Mr Joseph Hui, director-general for environmental protection at the National Environment Agency, said: "We managed to clean up quite a fair bit of what came in yesterday, but a new oil patch came in around 2pm this afternoon, so the situation now is similar to what it was yesterday, but we are sparing no efforts."

The authorities said it is unlikely that other coastal areas like Changi and Sentosa will be affected.

But NEA said the situation was still fluid as new oil patches could reach the shore, depending on the wind and currents

So far, some 8.5 tonnes of sand contaminated by the oil have been removed.

The slick came from 2,500 tonnes of crude oil which leaked into the sea following the collision between a tanker and a bulk carrier on Tuesday morning.

While there has been no further report of oil leaking from the damaged tanker, the Maritime and Port Authority said as a precautionary measure, the containment boom will remain in place around it until the tanker is certified safe to be moved.

In the meantime, members of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore Revolving Fund Committee (RFC) which held its 31st meeting here yesterday, noted that the incident underscored the importance of having the Standard Operating Procedures for Joint Oil Spill Combat in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

They acknowledged that quick action and co-operation have helped to mitigate the impact of the incident. The RFC consists of members from the littoral states of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.