Oil spill in Davao’s Sasa wharf contained

The oil spill in Davao City’s Sasa wharf has been contained, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said.

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Elisea Gozun said the Coast Guard’s Marine Environmental Protection Unit headed by PO1 Melicio Bibliota used an oil spill boom and an oil dispersant called "Magichem 1280" to contain the oil spill.

Gozun ordered the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in Davao City to continuously monitor the Sasa wharf for further clean-up operations.

According to reports reaching the DENR central office in Quezon City, the spill involved some two steel barrels of bunker oil sludge, which ocean-going vessels normally discharge.

The local EMB office investigated the oil spill immediately after it was reported last April 20 and residents and environmentalists expressed alarm.

The DENR said the Coast Guard will send samples taken from the site of the oil spill to the Marine Environmental Protection Command in Binondo, Manila for laboratory analysis to pinpoint their source. — Katherine Adraneda