Guimaras Oil Spill:PCG To Use Hair/Chicken Feathers To Stop Oil Slick?

**chua_riwap** · August 27th, 2006 05:25 PM

Sludge Collected Left on Shoreline

DRUMS of sludge collected so far from the shores of Guimaras province are just being “dumped” along the shoreline, and may threaten the environment again with the next high tide.

Environmental group Greenpeace scored Petron Corp. and the government for the haphazard handling of oil slick and for not making sure fishermen collecting sludge are protected.

“The collected waste is just dumped along the shoreline. Based on our observation, the dumping was done haphazardly. The sludge may break out of the containers and return to the shores at the next high tide,” Greenpeace campaigner Von Hernandez said.

Hernandez made the assessment hours before President Macapagal-Arroyo was to visit Guimaras to personally see the damage to the environment caused by the oil spill.

Hernandez said the provincial government is still waiting for Petron to fulfill its promise to send a barge to collect the sludge.

Petron had commissioned the ill-fated tanker “Solar 1” to ferry two million liters of bunker oil from Bataan to Mindanao. The “Solar 1” sank off Guimaras last August 11.

Also, Hernandez said that up to now, fishermen hired by Petron to collect the sludge are still unprotected. He said they need boots and masks to protect their health.

“We have volunteers setting up booms to help clean the oil spill. But the fishermen deserve protection such as boots, gloves and masks,” he said.

However, a photograph taken of pres. Arroyo in Nueva Valencia showed locals wearing masks as they collected sludge.

Meanwhile, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Joseph Coyme said concerned citizens who want to donate chicken feathers or human hair to help stop the oil slick can send them to the Coast Guard in Western Visayas.

He said the Coast Guard will bring the collected hair and feathers to Iloilo City.

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Buhok at balahibo ng manok, to stop oil slick? Epektibo kaya ito?

**mazdamazda** · August 27th, 2006 05:39 PM

yup... it'll absorb the oil.

coconut tree branches are being used also to protect beaches along guimaras from the oil contamination.

**nugundam93** · August 27th, 2006 05:48 PM

sayang kakapakalbo ko lang before the oil spill. hehehe.

pero seriously, they'll need all the help they can get.

**van_wilder** · August 27th, 2006 10:54 PM

Originally Posted by chua_riwap

Environmental group Greenpeace scored Petron Corp. and the government for the haphazard handling of oil slick and for not making sure fishermen collecting sludge are protected.

whats with the blame? petron doesnt have any responsibility here... the shipping company does...

if im going to move my stuff, and hired a lipatbahay, then naaksidente yun truck at lumipad monitor ko at tinaman ang istambay, kasalanan ko ba yun?

**yebo** · August 27th, 2006 11:25 PM

Originally Posted by van_wilder

whats with the blame? petron doesnt have any responsibility here... the shipping company does...

if im going to move my stuff, and hired a lipatbahay, then naaksidente yun truck at lumipad monitor ko at tinaman ang istambay, kasalanan ko ba yun?

you're comparing apples to oranges pare ko. a contract to ship dangerous and toxic cargo puts all responsibilities on the owner of the cargo, not on the shipping company.

lipat bahay, which is trucking your furnitures from one place to another, is not the same as shipping oil. as the lipat bahay truck is different from the gasoline tankers, so are the ships/barges that ship oil are different, too, from ordinary ships. di ka gagamit ng isuzu elf close van sa pag-transport ng 10,000 liters ng gasolina from petron bataan refinery to manila, need mo ng tanker truck which is certified to carry dangerous, flammable cargo. if the truck does not meet standards and you hire it, and that truck suddenly explodes in the middle of edsa and kills 1000 people, then you are liable. so it is the same with a ship. ships have different standards that need to be met. there are national and international laws that govern those standards.

i work on an oil drilling rig. before we go into contract with any oil company we are inspected both by the governing organization (in our case, the american bureau of shipping or abs) and by the oil company itself. the rig gets certified that it is not just capable to carry out its contract, but will be able to do it in a safe manner. safe means operationally safe and environmentally safe. also all crew are inspected as to required training and certification, and that the minimum manning is met and licenses valid (like one master, one chief engineer, 2 chief mates, 5 ab seamen). why does the oil company inspect the oil rig? because they will ultimately be the responsible company if anything happens, environmental disasters included. if drilling the oil well gets out of control and 1 million barrels of crude oil gushes out to the sea it will be the oil company that will pay the fine, clean up the spill, and it's executives go to jail.

ships undergo the same inspections. when petron contracted the shipping company it is imperative, A MUST, that they inspect the ship they are hiring. why? because ultimate responsibility rests on them. if the ship does not meet minimum safety standards then they should not hire it. they are also required to make sure all licenses are current, and that the people manning the ship are certified (the ship captain and the crew of the ill-fated tanker have expired licences). petron knew the ship they hired, they knew the expiration date of the ship's crew's papers (this must be submitted to them together with the ship's certification for seaworthiness, if they know what they are doing). knowing that they proceeded to hire the ship, then they are responsible. it is not some ball that can be passed on so easily.

**Isuzoom** · August 27th, 2006 11:38 PM

Putek! aabot na ang oil slick sa Negros next na ang finger pointing at pa showing sa media...gawin nyo na ang dapat gawin para ma solve ang problema....high tech ang planning sa implementation WALA!!! Putek kayo!!!..Chicken feather? PWE!!!

**katsudon_ph** · August 27th, 2006 11:50 PM

I think they are doing their best, it just that PCG are not ready for this magnitude of calamity. Dapat petron has capability to handle this calamity because its just a drop of their 2.7billion net income last year.
Going forward, Oil companies should have their own disaster oil spill recovery facility.

**Gumusut_Amige** · August 28th, 2006 12:25 AM

Originally Posted by yebo

ships undergo the same inspections. and when petron contracted the shipping company it is imperative, a must, that they inspect the ship they are hiring. why? because ultimate responsibility rests on them. if the ship does not meet minimum safety standards then they should not hire it. they are also required to make sure all licenses are current, and that the people manning the ship are certified (the ship captain and the crew of the ill-fater tanker have expired licences). petron knew the ship they hired, they knew the expiration date of the ship's crew (this must be submitted to them together with the ship's certification for seaworthiness, if they know what they are doing). knowing that they proceeded to hire the ship, they are responsible. it is not some ball that can be passed on so easily.

this is absolutely true... but i can't help but wonder why it seems we don't have an established laws to govern this kind of incident. By SHELL standard, this is considered as a major emergency and the action shall be immediate upon learning as such. Petron is incomparable to the latter but at least they should put their best effort to contain it especially that Saudi Aramco is one of the major stakeholder and they're not new in handling this kind of oil spill incident. All I can say... our DOE is too soft in dealing with Petron, perhaps because it's still under the umbrella of the government. what else is new here in the pilipins, but a lot of our brothers/sisters are affected by this and the help response from the government to rescue their needs is too slow. let's just pray hard and hope the situation will not escalate further.

**chua_riwap** · August 28th, 2006 12:46 AM

Originally Posted by Isuzoom

gawin nyo na ang dapat gawin para ma solve ang problema....high tech ang planning sa implementation WALA!!! Putek kayo!!!..Chicken feather? PWE!!!

Sensya na, 'Pre, yan lang ang kaya natin sa ngayon, para mapigil ang oil slick.......buhok ng tao at balahibo ng manok.

High tech yan!

Ilang "barkong" buhok at balahibo kaya ang kelangan, para ma-contain yung oil slick.

**enteng** · August 28th, 2006 01:07 AM

Sa totoo lang mga tol matagal na akong nagtatrabaho sa isang passenger cruise line at kahit ordinaryong bartender lang ako dito may mga seminars kami yearly on environmental awareness and how to preserve it.Sa totoolang ano matagal ko nang napansin ito sa atin na ultimo yata ang mga namumuno sa atin ay di alam ang kanilang ginagawa when it comes to preserving our environment especially the Sea kaya kung ako ang tatanungin mo it wont helpp kasi nga hangang sa ngayon yong oil spill sa alaska ay di pa rin tapos linisin ang its been what almost 10 yrs na yata