What if the oil spill here was really big?

Richard Hartung Today Online 1 Jun 10;

"There is no cause for alarm," the National Environment Agency (NEA) said right after the recent oil spill, and reassuring statements continued to flow in. The NEA said it didn't detect any toxic chemicals in the air, even as fumes wafted across the East Coast. PUB said the nation's water supply was safe, since "the outlet drains are all not linked to any reservoirs".

Right after the accident, the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) deployed about 20 vessels to contain or break up the slick and set out over 1.5 kilometres of containment booms. NEA mobilised more than 200 workers to clean up the spill. Even though the collision occurred 13km off the Singapore coast, and despite all these activities, oil advanced steadily to the East Coast, to Chek Jawa and towards the Malaysian shoreline. Photos showed tiny booms trying to keep oil from hitting beaches or canals, people fishing between patches of oil and children playing amidst oil on the beach. Volunteers from the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) battled to save animals covered in oil. The Star in Malaysia reported that more than 1,000 fishermen couldn't go out to sea.

Large as the oil spill may seem, it was actually a relatively small 2,500 tonnes. It is just a fraction of the more than 28,000 tonnes spilled when two tankers collided off southern Singapore in 1997. The ship that spilled the oil this time was reportedly carrying 62,000 tonnes, and the SPC refinery can handle ships up to 105,000 tonnes. A key concern is whether Singapore is sufficiently prepared to deal with a larger spill.

A natural tendency is to assume preparations are sufficient and, indeed, contingency plans are in place. There's a "Standard Operating Procedure for Joint Oil Spill Combat in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore," intended to coordinate actions to control spills. ChemSpill exercises, designed to test preparedness for dealing with oil spills, used a scenario in 2007 where "more than 100 tonnes of chemicals were spilled into the sea" and another scenario in a morning-long exercise in 2009 tested "a collision between an oil tanker and a chemical tanker".

While the preparations are good, there's little evidence of capabilities to deal with spills larger than 30,000 tonnes. The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation, which has an MOU with MPA, noted in its report on preparedness that the largest spill in Singapore was 28,500 tonnes. Similarly, the 2009 Blue Plan presented to the Environment Minister also focused on the 1997 spill.

It's altogether too easy to assume the best. With the recent spill being just a tenth the size of the one in 1997, and double-hulled ships having stronger protection against collisions, the likelihood of a major catastrophe may seem low. Yet, just look at what happened in the Gulf of Mexico. BP believed it was "virtually impossible" for an accident to occur. The United States government took almost a week to call the problem a disaster, and there haven't been nearly enough trained ships or crew to contain the oil.

Cleaning up a large oil spill takes lots of preparation and fast work to contain and disperse or recover the oil. Containment means deploying barriers called booms to keep the oil within a limited area. Skimmer boats pick up the oil from the surface and sorbents soak it up for later recovery. Dispersants break down oil so it can be absorbed into the water system, though this broken-down oil can be hazardous to marine life.

Taking all these steps means it's necessary to have tens of kilometres of booms, plenty of sorbents and vessels ready to deploy them. Oil needs to be kept away from desalination plant intakes, too. On the softer side, it means having the resources ready to detect tiny particles in the air, keeping people from going into polluted water and cleaning up both the shoreline and animals. It's similar to having enough fire trucks ready and waiting. If the oil spill or fire doesn't occur, it's good news. If it does happen, you're prepared.

Oil refining remains a big business in Singapore, and accidents can happen. Despite the activities to contain the current spill, oil has continued to spread. That spread could make it seem like preparations to handle big spills are insufficient. If enough measures are in place, publicising them could provide better reassurance. If not, it's better to learn a lesson from the current spill and get better prepared just in case a bigger one actually does happen.

The writer is a consultant who has lived in Singapore since 1992.