Oil spill expert: Cebu tragedy lesser than in Guimaras

CEBU, Philippines - The expert from the University of the Philippines – Visayas who has extensive experience in dealing with the Guimaras oil spill in 2006 yesterday drew comparisons between the incident and the current situation in Cebu.

Scientist Dr. Resurrecion “Rex” Sadaba was tapped by 2GO, the owner of passenger vessel M/V St. Thomas Aquinas that sank after colliding with cargo ship M/V Sulpicio Express Siete off Lawis Ledge.

The sinking led to spill that has affected the town of Cordova and is threatening to affect shores of Cebu City.

Sadaba, manager of Oil Spill Response Program of UP Visayas and Associate Professor 7 at the Division of Biological Sciences in the same university, spearheaded the group of experts addressing and monitoring the environmental effects of the Solar 1 sinking and oil spill off Guimaras Island.

Shortly after the August 16 sinking and oil spill in Cebu, Sadaba and his team conducted on-site inspection in Cordova to assess the extent of oil spill.

Yesterday, he opined that the situation in Cebu is way better than in Guimaras considering the fuel leaks and the physical assessment of mangrove forest and water primarily in Cordova.

“In Cebu, what we have here is nothing compared to what we had in Guimaras,” the scientist explained.

He stressed that while Cebu has about 120,000 liters of oil as estimated by the Coast Guard and 2GO, Guimaras had 2 million liters.

“Every spill is different. No two spills are the same. They are different in terms of amount and type of oil involved, the initial physical and chemical characteristics of the oil. If the oil remains in the sea or at the shore. These are the things we need to understand when we look at oil spill,” Sadaba explained.

He lauded how Cebu local government units and government agencies responded to the recent sea tragedy.

“Cebu should not commit the same mistakes that Guimaras did. I’m happy that we are doing the right thing here,” the scientist said.

He also shared do’s and don’ts in terms of cleanup strategies specifically on mangrove forests affected by oil spill.

Aggressive manual cleanup and the application of dispersants beyond 72 hours from start of leak are highly discouraged by the expert saying these rather worsen the contamination level.

While coconut husks have been earlier advised for natural oil spill boom, Sadaba also pointed out the effectiveness of rice straws and referred to neighboring province of Bohol for help being abundant of rice fields.

Mangrove forests, according to Sadaba, are a vital part of marine ecosystems since they feed the lowest part of marine food chain including microorganisms found under water like planktons.

A berm or shoreline of oil, is one indicative of the gravity of oil spill in a mangrove forest found at the seabed near the roots of mangroves.

The expert said that upon inspection in Cordova, he did not notice a berm formation, which is a good sign.

Sadaba also looked for BFAR representative during his lecture emphasizing the importance of testing the marine resources which will determine the advisory for or against eating fishes.

“I wish BFAR is here. They must conduct that test because it could contain carcinogens. Levels of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) & total pertroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in sediments need to be measured,” he said, adding their center can help the agency in conducting the test to aid the advisory issuance.

Imparting the lessons learned in Guimaras, which Cebu can reportedly learn from, the UP professor said there is no need to overreact and the situation must be done in a more systematic way.

He also pointed to the need to conduct rapid assessment test to which Sadaba can step in and guide Cebu marine biologists and experts.

“The things we learned from Guimaras include the realization that we have limited experience with emergencies as well as working familiarity with NOSCP (National Oil Spill Contingency Plan), no technical/logistical capability, no preparation training for oil spills, no ready mechanism immediate response, the presence of many critics and overnight experts, and much haphazard response by victims, well meaning volunteers, officials,” he said. (FREEMAN)