MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard reported Thursday that efforts to clean up shores of oil spill-affected towns in Oriental Mindoro are now 74 to 84% complete.
The cleanup in Pola town was 80.71% complete, while in Naujan was 74.82%, according to PCG’s incident management team.
The oil spill response team cleaned 28 out of 34 kilometers of affected shoreline in Pola, and five out of seven kilometers in Naujan.
The team also declared Barangay Tiguihan, Barangay Zone 1, and Barangay Zone 2 in Pola “100% clean.”
Meanwhile, around seven kilometers of shoreline in Pola and nearly two kilometers in Naujan remain contaminated with oil.
“Concerned government agencies and stakeholders now conduct phase 2 and 3 of shoreline clean-up by flushing, pressure washing on hard surfaces, pebble washing, and manual cleaning,” PCG said.
The Coast Guard also said it has received oil spill equipment from the Korean government. These include pad sorbents, snare sorbents, personal protective equipment, and solid flotation curtain boom.
Initial estimates put the environmental damage caused by the Oriental Mindoro oil spill at P7 billion, Environment Secretary Antonia Loyzaga said Thursday.
Nearly two months after MT Princess Empress sank off Oriental Mindoro, the tanker is still leaking. — Gaea Katreena Cabico