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

[empy]

ngayon ko lang narinig yang feather-and-hair method, hehehe

i agree - hold petron responsible for the cleanup

[kinyo]

hindi ba ito para kang gumamit ng toothbrush para linisan yung bakuran?

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

punta sila jollibee tsaka beauty parlors ... dami dun

joke aside ... nakakaawa nga yung mga taong affected nito ... yung dating fisherman naging cleaner na ngayon ... mabuti sana kung fairly compensated sila ... they will be suffering for years

i think the oil that caused damage to hundreds of kilometer coastline so far is coming from a small leak (?), majority are still inside the tanker under the sea ... araykupo

[oldblue]

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?

epektibo yan. experiment on baby oil sa buhok mo, then brush it and see for yourself ...
sumusunod d'ba

[tsupermario]

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.

Section 20. Clean-up Operations. It shall be the responsibility of the polluter to contain, remove and clean up water pollution incidents at his own expense. In case of his failure to do so, the government agencies concerned shall undertake containment, removal and clean-up operations and expenses incurred in said operations shall be charged against the persons and/or entities responsible for such pollution.

Philippine Environment Code
http://www.chanrobles.com/pd1152.htm

panahon pa ito ni macoy...

[Gumusut_Amige]

Philippine Environment Code
http://www.chanrobles.com/pd1152.htm
panahon pa ito ni macoy...

medyo kailangan na sigurong repasuhin ito... dapat meron timeframe na naka takda sa clean-up operations at yung consequential liabilities dulot ng kanilang kapabayaan. i've just heard from Petron spokesman this morning that they don't have any legal liability sa sakunang ito. Ano ba naman ito...
AFAIK, all responsible Oil and Gas players are having their own policy to control oil pollution, the procedure varies between O/G companies on their " Oil Contingency Spill Plan" with primary consideration is given to the following objectives, in descending order;

• prevention of loss of life
• protection of personnel from injury
• minimize damage to the environment
• prevention of loss or damage to property
• minimize damage to local corporate image
• minimize legal liabilities, together with associated and consequential cost

IMHO, Dapat ito ay nakasaad in details sa DOE regulations... and it seems that they're very silent on this oil spill crisis. Hindi ba sila dapat ang nangunguna dito as coordinator between government agencies, local people affected and Petron/shipping company?

[lolo pepe]

Ayaw palang panagutan ng Petron...

Eh kung kumuha tayo kaya ng isang drum na crudo na galing diyan sa oil spill at i-dump natin yung oil sa harapan ng Petron Main Office. Kung me sumita na galing sa Petron, eto ang reason natin "Eh, hindi rin namin kasalanan ito noh. Natapon yung langis eh."

Sigurado ako na kalaboso tayo...

Pero pag sila, OK lang??? Mga lintek kayo!!!

[badkuk]

afaik, the ff materials can be used to soak up oil spills:

1.) chicken feathers -- not sure if feathers from other species can be used; something about the structure of the chicken feather that makes it ideal for sucking up oil

2.) human hair -- i saw a tv feature on this, they load it up on some bags and put it over the oil slick

3.) gum base used for chewing gum -- bonds with oil to form a solid, which is a heckuva lot easier to clean up than oil. i saw this on tv once, they just sprinkled it over the oil slick. parang naging gummy 'latak' ung oil, kinda like that solid film on your cream of mushroom soup that's gone cold


#3 is relatively expensive imho, and while extraction is possible, i think it costs more.


imho, #1 & 2 are the best options we have right now, since the raw materials are cheap(if not free), and the townspeople can implement it already. aasa ka sa gobyerno? you're better off taking your chances at the slots

ang tanong lang nga, once all that oil is cleaned up, san kaya patungo ang mga to? are there any facilities that can extract the oil?

[badkuk]

ano na ang nangyari sa investigation? sino ba talaga me sala? afaik, the the ship made a pitstop somewhere for safety, but soon went on its way again despite the bad weather.


btw...ano ba ung usapan pag me nagclean up/salvage ng oil? does the salvaging company get to keep the oil? what if we just give the oil to anyone who handles the cleanup, for free? maybe that would get the salvaging companys' attention

[mazdamazda]

Err... Petron already admitted that they are at fault... FYI:

Petron vows total cleanup of oil slick

MANILA -- An official of Petron Corporation on Thursday said the company would not leave the Guimaras area until it completely cleans the sea and coastlines of the bunker oil that is leaking from a chartered tanker that sank off the island about two weeks ago.

"For us, it's a moral responsibility to help the people clean up (the oil spill)," said Peter Paul Shotwell, Petron's supply operations and planning manager.

Shotwell made the assurance in a briefing called for by Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC). Cruz was appointed to head government's Task Force Guimaras, whose main job is to lead clean-up efforts in the area.

Shotwell said a team from a Japanese firm, Fukuda Salvage and Marine Works, is due to arrive in Guimaras on Saturday or Sunday to retrieve the sunken ship, motor tanker Solar I. He said the team has already left Japan.

Shotwell said the firm will be bringing in a vessel, Shinsei Maru, which is equipped with a remote operated vehicle that can search the seabed down to 2,000 meters and take photos to determine a ship's condition underwater.

"That's part of our commitment," said Shotwell, referring to the cleanup and subsequent rehabilitation of areas that have been affected and those that might be affected by the oil spill.

Shotwell said Petron is coordinating with Siliman University (SU), University of the Visayas (UV), and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and "they are giving us some help" in the development of a long-term rehabilitation plan. He hoped that the cleanup would be finished in 45 days.

A press statement Shotwell distributed to the media during the briefing said Petron regrets the "unfortunate incident" as it vowed to "take responsibility in addressing the containment and recovery of the oil spill."

Petron said it is hiring 869 people from the affected areas on a daily basis for the cleanup and the number will be increased in the coming days. The figure is on top of the five percent of the total workforce of Petron engaged in the mission.

Cruz asked Petron to adopt measures to prevent the oil spill from spreading to the nearby Visayan Sea and Bantayan Island and other threatened areas. He said he has directed the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to help contain the oil spill.

"Petron has reiterated that it will expend all the efforts and funds to speed up the cleanup and to protect the threatened shorelines in the area and Task Force Guimaras is calling on Petron to continue to speed up the clean-up operations," said Cruz.

He is also asking Petron officials "to provide protective measures to prevent the oil spill from reaching the other shorelines that are threatened. So we're calling on Petron to expedite the clean-up operations."

"I have directed the PCG and I asked Petron to focus some of its efforts on the northern part of Guimaras strait to prevent the oil spill from reaching the Visayan Sea and Bantayan Island," he added. (VR/Sunnex)

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As for the chicken feathers & hair thingie... it was also recommended by Greenpeace.

The PCG is also using a oil-containing fluid which will solidify the oil and render it harmless.

[OTEP]

Unfortunately, Petron only thinks it is their 'moral' responsibility. Dapat pala magpasalamat pa tayo sa mga ugok na ito.

They can just up and leave anytime since they are not 'legally' obliged to clean the place up. At least that's what they think.

"That's part of our commitment," - papogi na naman!