Australian oil spill recovery plan could take 7 years

Yahoo News 4 Nov 09;

SYDNEY (AFP) – Monitoring the clean-up of a huge oil spill in pristine Australian waters could take as long as seven years, an official said Wednesday as environmentalists urged a wide-ranging inquiry into the disaster.

As many as 28,000 barrels of oil have gushed into the Timor Sea off Western Australia's northern coast in the 10 weeks since the West Atlas oil rig began leaking, raising concerns of an environmental disaster.

Attempts to plug the hole were delayed by the need to bring equipment from Singapore, the difficulty of the operation some 2.6 kilometres (1.6 miles) below the seabed and a fierce inferno fuelled by the leak which erupted Sunday.

The rig's operator PTTEP Australasia said the clean-up would be carried out quickly after the oil and gas leak and the fire were shut down on Tuesday.

"I suspect a couple of months is what we are sort of anticipating," the company's Jose Martins said of the operation.

"The environmental plan really could take up to seven years."

Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson, who has called for an inquiry into the incident, welcomed the news that the fire on the rig and the Montara wellhead platform had been extinguished.

"I think we are all relieved that what could have been a very dangerous situation hasn't seen any loss of life," the minister told state radio.

Environmentalists said stopping the flow was the first step in cleaning up the spill some 250 kilometres offshore, but called for any inquiry into the leak and fire to have wide-ranging powers.

"This is a major spill," WWF Australia's Ghislaine Llewellyn told AFP. "This is up in the top three in Australian history."

Llewellyn said the spill of oil and condensate combined with the dispersant used to control the slick had created a toxic cocktail which would have a long-term impact on the area's pristine tropical marine life.

Authorities said they were investigating whether oil from the rig could have washed up on Australia's northern coast.

The Australian embassy in Jakarta has dismissed reports that oil from the leak had come close to Indonesian coastal waters as "highly unlikely".

NTT urges Australia to plug Timor Sea oil spill
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post 4 Nov 09;

East Nusa Tenggara Governor Frans Leburaya has urged the Australian government to take immediate measures to plug an oil leak polluting the Timor Sea.

Leburaya said Tuesday in the provincial capital Kupang that the local environmental agency had sent the government results of lab tests proving the leak, from an offshore oil rig in the Montara field, had polluted local waters.

"The observation team is continuing to monitor the impact of the pollution and will report periodically," Leburaya said.

He added marine life reportedly affected by the oil included dolphins and whales.

"If the crude oil sinks to the bottom of the sea, deep-sea fishes will also be at risk," he said, adding he had sent a letter to the foreign, environment and transportation ministers to discuss the issue with the Australian government.

At a press conference the same day, West Timor Care Foundation director Ferdi Tanoni lauded the Australian government's plan to form an independent commission to investigate the oil rig explosion.

"The proposal to establish an independent commission was expressed by Australian Resources Minister Martin Ferguson on November 30 in Canberra," he said.

He urged the independent commission to involve Indonesia and East Timor in its job, saying both countries were at the highest risk from the pollution.

"The investigation should be carried out together so as not to give an impression of being partial," Tanoni said, adding the Indonesian government should be more proactive in dealing with the issue.

Besides the spill, he went on, the offshore oil rig operated by West Atlas, owned by Thai company PTTEP, had also caught fire.

Australian authorities are currently attempting to plug the leak and put out the fire.

At a press conference Tuesday in Jakarta, the Australian Embassy said the federal government had focused on minimizing the impact of the oil spill and would continue to provide the latest information to Indonesian authorities.

Embassy public affairs official Angky Septiana said the oil leak began on Aug. 21, spilling light crude oil into the Timor Sea.

The embassy had immediately reported the incident to Indonesian authorities as soon as satellite images showed large patches of crude oil entering the Indonesian exclusive economic zone, he added.

"On Oct. 28, Australian Minister of Environment, Heritage and Arts Peter Garrett held talks with his Indonesian counterpart Gusti Muhammad Hatta on the oil spill from the Montara oil field," Septiana said.

The biggest section of the oil spill is found in Australian waters, within the Montara oil field.

A large-scale cleanup process is currently underway, using methods from dissolving the crude oil, to containment and restoration using booms and skimmers.

Australia launches inquiry into major oil spill
AFP Google News 5 Nov 09;

SYDNEY — Australia launched an inquiry on Thursday into a major oil spill off its coast which has been described as one of the country's worst environmental disasters.

Retired senior civil servant David Borthwick was appointed to probe the leak, which gushed from a damaged oil well in the Timor Sea for some 10 weeks and then burst into flames before finally being contained on Tuesday.

"I simply say that we aspire to learn from this incident and take any necessary steps to stop similar incidents occurring in the future," Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said.

The inquiry will have the power to call witnesses, take sworn evidence and force companies to hand over documents, and will make recommendations aimed at stopping future accidents.

The rig's Thai-based operator, PTTEP Australasia, has warned the site off northern Australia may need environmental monitoring for up to seven years.

Up to 28,000 barrels of oil poured into the sea after the West Atlas rig began leaking on August 21, prompting several attempts to cap it by boring a relief well and pumping in heavy mud.

Environmental groups have criticised the government's handling of the spill, saying it threatened bird and marine life off Western Australia's north coast.

Resource-rich Australia is enjoying strong energy exports, notably its fast-expanding liquefied natural gas sector fuelled by booming Asian demand.