Yahoo News 13 Dec 07;
Strong winds are pushing a huge oil slick south towards a scenic island, South Korea's Coast Guard said Thursday, hampering efforts to contain and clean up the country's worst oil spill.
The Coast Guard said it was using "all possible means" to keep the slick away from Anmyeon island, which is part of a national marine park, and Cheonsu bay, a habitat for migratory birds.
Some 21,600 people, 218 ships and 14 aircraft were fighting to contain and disperse the slick, or were cleaning up oil which has already washed ashore and fouled beaches and hundreds of marine farms around a west coast peninsula.
But waves up to three metres (9.9 feet) and strong winds were hampering work in the early afternoon, the Coast Guard said in a statement.
"Fishing boats which had joined the clean-up work returned home due to bad weather at sea," Myong Gwang-Sik, an official in Taean country 110 kilometres (69 miles) southwest of Seoul, told AFP.
He said snow or rain was also expected off the west coast.
The government, under fire for its response to the disaster, will provide up to 300 billion won (325 million dollars) in emergency funds to support small businesses and marine farmers, Kim Seok-Dong, vice finance minister, announced.
About 10,500 tons of crude oil leaked when a drifting barge carrying a construction crane smashed into the anchored 147,000-ton Hong Kong-registered supertanker Hebei Spirit and holed it in three places last Friday.
Work to patch the holes with iron plates was suspended Thursday because of the worsening weather, the Coast Guard said.
The oil has since coated beaches and 227 marine farms in Taean and neighbouring areas. Environmentalists say the disaster will deal a heavy blow to a region popular with beachgoers and home to hundreds of marine farms.
Salvage workers have been desperately trying to stop the slick spreading into Garorim Bay, a major concentration of marine farms north of Taean.
The government has declared Taean and neighbouring affected areas a disaster zone, making residents eligible for quick aid and compensation.
Thousands of volunteers using buckets and spades have helped police and troops clean up the coastline.
The government is running short of equipment, especially absorbent material to soak up the oil. On Wednesday it asked the Northwest Pacific Action Plan -- part of the UN's Regional Seas Programme -- to provide 100 tons of absorbents.
The JoongAng Ilbo newspaper attacked the official response to the spill, but praised the thousands of volunteers.
"It's true that the accident could have been prevented with extra safety, that the uncoordinated responses of the relevant authorities have increased the environmental impact, and that the cleanup operation is not proceeding effectively because of the disorganised disaster response system," its editorial said.
"But a ray of hope shines through thanks to the volunteers..."
Some 1,500 people offered their help during a two-day campaign run by the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement.
The federation said it also received over 40 million won in donations over the two days it sought volunteers on its website.
"People are very eager to help," a spokesperson told Yonhap news agency, adding that American soldiers and high school students are among those coming forward.
High winds likely to spread South Korea oil spill
Lee Jae-won, Reuters 13 Dec 07;
TAEAN, South Korea (Reuters) - Strong winds on Thursday threatened to spread the devastation from South Korea's worst oil spill and cold weather hit already slow clean-up efforts by thousands of exhausted workers.
Six days after a crane barge punched holes into a huge oil tanker which then spewed 10,500 metric tons of its load into the sea, the government said it would make available more than 300 billion won ($325 million) in loans to help residents who say they face ruin.
The coast guard sent in dozens more ships and planes as high winds looked likely to carry the slick from the Hebei Spirit tanker to more of the west coast region, famed for its sandy beaches, oyster beds and nature reserve.
The ships are trying to break up the oil into smaller, more manageable slicks while planes spray chemicals to break it down.
"It is pretty devastating. There will be no fishing here for next 10 years, and I'll be past sixty," said Hong Sung-ku, a volunteer cleaner.
He had driven about 150 km (95 miles) southwest from Seoul at dawn and was working alone in the quiet port of Kemok, his favorite fishing spot, cleaning thick oil from oyster shells.
The leak is about a third of the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill of crude oil onto Alaska shores, the costliest on record at $9.5 billion including settlement of claims.
PAINFULLY SLOW
Recovery of the oil has been painfully slow since the spill last Friday. The maritime ministry conceded it was not properly prepared for such a disaster and did not have enough equipment.
Cold air pushed into the area by winds is further hampering workers, already exhausted and some overcome by sulfur fumes.
Resource-poor but factory-rich, South Korea is one of the world's largest importers of oil, most of it arriving by single hulled tankers such as the Hebei Spirit.
The government has said it will not tighten rules to phase out the use of such tankers beyond its commitment to a 2010 deadline. Some European countries are phasing them out more quickly.
More than 21,000 workers, mostly volunteers and local residents, are trying to clear the beaches, now black and stinking of sulfur fumes.
Some were critical of the latest offer from the government, which has already declared parts of the Taean region a disaster area, so entitling it to aid to pay for clearing up the mess.
The plan will allow people to borrow from state banks for as little as one percent interest and defer payment on existing loans.
"Wouldn't you expect the government to actually do more?" complained Chung Nak-joong, a resident of Mallipo beach where he said most residents make a good living running motels and small restaurants.
($1=923.3 Won)
(Writing by Jack Kim, editing by Jonathan Thatcher and Grant McCool)
