South Korea's worst oil spill threatens bird haven

Reuters 17 Dec 07;

TAEAN, South Korea (Reuters) - South Korea's worst oil spill is threatening to enter a bay that is an important winter rest stop for migratory birds, the coastguard and a conservation group said on Monday.

Tens of thousands of volunteers, soldiers and others have battled for 10 days to clean up 10,500 tons of crude oil that spewed from a tanker. The spill then washed up on west coast beaches popular with tourists and blackened a nature reserve.

The coastguard has set up containment fences and dispatched vessels to break up or turn back the spill before it enters Cheonsu Bay, about 95 miles southwest of Seoul.

The bay is home for about 400,000 migratory birds, representing 300 different species that pass through during the South Korean winter, according to a statement by the Seosan Cheonsu Bay Bird Watching Fair Organisation Committee.

South Korea has declared the west coast Taean region a disaster area and said it would make available $322.7 million in loans to help residents who say they face ruin.

The spill has wiped out fish farms and oyster beds in the region and conservation groups said oil in the seabed will create problems for years to come.

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.

(Reporting by Jessica Kim; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Oil still drifting south in South Korea's worst spill: Coast Guard
Yahoo News 17 Dec 07;

Slicks from South Korea's worst oil spill are still drifting south despite massive clean-up efforts since the accident 10 days ago, the Coast Guard said Monday.

Clumps of tar and slicks were spotted up to 130 kilometres (80 miles) south of the scene of the spill in the Yellow Sea, Coast Guard officials said.

A tanker spilled some 10,500 tons of crude oil off Taean county on the west coast on December 7 after being holed by a drifting barge carrying a crane.

Navy ships are battling to disperse the oil near four islands, while salvage workers and fishermen have begun work to protect sea farms from contamination, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The Coast Guard also said it had set up more booms at the mouth of Cheonsu Bay, south of Taean, to protect the habitat for migratory birds.

Much of the oil which coated beaches in Taean was being removed by tens of thousands of volunteers, police and troops.

On Monday, some 37,000 people, 828 ships and 18 aircraft were combating the spill.

Marine authorities said they had begun studying the potential impact of the oil on residents, fishermen and sea farms, and environmentalists have said it may take decades to recover fully from the disaster.

On Sunday, Seoul said it would provide 30 billion won (32 million dollars) in emergency aid to residents of the disaster-hit area by the end of next month.

Separately, the government has also offered up to 300 billion won (325 million dollars) in emergency funds to support small businesses and marine farmers.

The European Union, the United Nations and Japan have despatched environmental experts to assist the cleanup. Aid has also come from Singapore, China and the United States.