#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40012516

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Long slicks of black oil were spotted on the popular Mae Ram Phueng Beach in Rayong province on Friday morning, officials and locals said.

The slicks were believed to be from the third leak of an undersea pipe of the Star Petroleum Refining Plc (SPRC) off the Ma Ta Phut Industrial Estate.

On Thursday, Rayong Governor Charnna Iamsaeng said the SPRC had informed the authorities that there was another leak near the spot where the two previous leaks had occurred, but the spills were small in quantity on and off, and SPRC officials were fixing the leak.

Officials were deployed to monitor the oil slicks at the Mae Ram Phueng Beach in Rayong’s Muang district and they found oil slicks washed onto the beach, leaving dark patches.

Officials rushed to clean the slick by using a sucking machine to get rid of the contaminated sand.

The black patches were found at two spots, and each spot was over a kilometre long. The first spot was the beach where Hua Rot Canal flows to the sea in Tambon Tapong and the second spot was the area where the Khao Sab Canal connects to the sea in Tambon Pae.

Operators of seaside restaurants said the oil slicks had severely damaged their business as tourists had stopped coming to the beach following the two oil leaks. They said the situation was worse than the Covid-19 situation.

On January 25, an underwater pipe of the SPRC leaked, spilling 47,000 litres of crude oil.

Then on February 10, another oil spill was detected when an estimated 5,000 litres of oil leaked about 20 kilometres from the shore.

On Friday, several concerned government agencies used 31 boats and a drone to patrol the sea to try to detect more oil slicks on the sea but they found none.

Officials said as they had not detected any more oil slicks on the sea about one to two kilometres off the shore, they had moved the oil-trapping buoys from along the coast back to the floating pier in the sea where oil tankers transfer oil to refineries using their underground pipe.

Officials said so far 8,302 people have filed complaints seeking compensation from the SPRC.

Published : February 18, 2022

By : THE NATION