Crude Oil spill unleash fear among endangered Olive Ridley turtles in Orissa coast

Anurjay Dhal, Odisha Today 11 May 09;

Bhubaneswar ( Orissa ) The Indian Oil Corporation officials manning the Paradip-Haldia pipe line in Orissa, have unleash fear among the endangered Olive Ridely turtles.

According to Biswajit Mohanty, chief of 'Operation Kachhapa', a major oil spill has occurred in the under sea portion of the Paradip- Haldia pipeline in the Paradip coast.

The oil was being received for piping to Haldia refinery through the single point mooring (SPM) system when the pipe broke.

Under SPM, an undersea pipeline is laid out for 4- 5 kms inside the sea to deeper waters where deep draught vessels carrying huge loads of crude oil can anchor and unload the oil without coming inside the port.

Indian Oil has been using the SPM since December, 2008 to unload and transport crude oil, Mohanty added on Monday.

Sources reveal that the pipeline broke and crude oil spilled when the crude was being unloaded from the crude vessel “NABHI” on the night of April 22. At least 2,000 to 3,000 tons of crude oil has leaked out in the mid sea.

The SPM pipelines are of extremely high quality and are regularly tested for weak spots and likely spillages. It is clear that Indian Oil officials have goofed up in carrying out such under sea inspections at regular intervals to maintain the safety protocols.

“Though the officials are duty bound to report the spill in view of its proximity to the marine sanctuary, no intimation was given and the Wildlife wing of Orissa Government was kept completely in the dark about this accident.

Similarly, the news of the spill was concealed and local media were unaware of it for a long time though this is the first major oil spill at Paradip coast,” he alleged.

Since the summer currents are in the northward direction of the coast, these crude spills are expected to wash up at Gahirmatha which is only 15 kilometers away from Paradip port. This shall irreversibly damage the turtle feeding grounds in the wildlife sanctuary.

Turtles feed on benthic fauna like mollusca, sea worms, star fish, anemones, sea cucumber, etc. Once the oil covers this area, the fauna will die out and the resulting pollution will prevent their regeneration for a long time.

Crude oil is a very persistent pollutant and marine oil spills in the past have lead to disastrous loss of marine wildlife and habitat. Fish breeding grounds are destroyed by such spills.

Operation Kachhapa has demanded that an expert team comprising of marine pollution experts and biologists should be rushed to Gahirmatha coast to carry out an impact study and identify and quantify the damage which has occurred.

Indian Oil should be asked to pay compensation to help the forest department to carry out the impact study and also adopt appropriate remedial measures to mitigate the impacts.

The crude oil should be collected and disposed off safely instead of being allowed to pollute the pristine Gahirmatha Marine sanctuary, Mohanty added.

The move of the IOC has invited sharp criticism from wildlife activists and turtle lovers in Orissa in particular and the World in general.