Semirara locals in oil spill cleanup face health risks

The residents of Semirara Island in Antique, tapped to help clean up the oil spill left by a barge of the National Power Corp. (Napocor), face great health risks due to inadequate protective gear, The STAR learned.

And unless the problem is seriously addressed by the concerned government agencies, the locals may again find themselves on the losing end; they have lost their seaweed farms and mangroves to the oil spill.

Cmdr. Allen Toribio, deputy commander of the Coast Guard’s Marine Environmental Protection Command, admitted in an interview that only Coast Guard personnel wear proper and adequate gear for the risky job.

The Semirara locals, whom Napocor is paying P250 per day to help in the cleanup, are exposed to toxic bunker fuel with no protective body suits.

Prolonged exposure to bunker oil causes skin and respiratory ailments, according to experts.

The locals are also exposed to poisonous snakes, insects and other creatures while cleaning up the oil-covered mangroves.

Toribio said the Coast Guard faces an enormous task since much of the bunker oil has already seeped into the sand.

So far, the Coast Guard has only cleaned up about six percent of the affected 236 hectares (not 56 hectares as earlier reported) or five kilometers of the island’s shoreline.

Toribio estimates that up to P90 million is needed to totally remove the oil slick for at least one year of daily work.

The Coast Guard has already spent more than P7 million since the cleanup started last month, he said.

Coast Guard officials are worried that the ongoing cleanup may dry up their agency’s budget since Napocor may not be able to promptly refund the expenses after its insurer, the British Marine of London (BML), has denied its claim due to technicalities.

The Napocor barge ran aground last Dec. 19 off Semirara Island due to inclement weather, causing the oil spill.

Under the law, Napocor is liable to pay the Coast Guard, the lead agency in the cleanup operation, for the cost of the job as well as compensate the affected residents.