China: oil slick from sunken tanker trebles in size

Iranian ship Sanchi went down carrying one million barrels of oil that is highly
toxic to marine life

The spill from a sunken Iranian tanker off China’s east coast has more than trebled in size, just
over a week after the ship sank in a ball of flames.

Authorities by Sunday had surveyed three oil

slicks with a total surface area of 332 sq km (128
square miles), compared with the 101 sq km seen
last Wednesday, China’s State Oceanic
Administration said in a statement.

The Sanchi was carrying 136,000 tonnes of light

crude oil from Iran when it collided with Hong
Kong-registered bulk freighter the CF Crystal in
Firefighting boats work to put on the
early January, setting off a desperate race by
blaze on the oil tanker Sanchi
authorities to search for survivors and stave off a
Photograph: AP (2018/jan/22/china)
massive environmental catastrophe.

The bodies of only three of the ship’s 30 Iranian and two Bangladeshi crew members have been
found.

Three coast guard vessels were on the scene on Sunday night assessing the spill, the Oceanic
Administration said.

The type of condensate oil carried by the Sanchi does not form a traditional surface slick when
spilt but is nonetheless highly toxic to marine life and much harder to separate from water. The
cargo amounted to nearly one million barrels of oil.

The area where the ship went down is an important spawning ground for species like the swordtip
squid and wintering ground for species like the yellow croaker fish and blue crab, among many
others, according to Greenpeace.

It is also on the migratory pathway of numerous marine mammals, such as humpback and grey
whales.

Source : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/22/china-oil-slick-from-sunken-tanker-
trebles-in-size
 THE GUARDIAN

Emergency declared after oil spill ignites on

Indonesian island of Borneo
City of Balikpapan is struggling to deal with toxic smoke from fire that
killed four fisherman

Hannah Ellis-Petersen

Wed 4 Apr 2018 05.35 BST

The Balikpapan oil spill and fire have resulted in water contamination and air pollution.
Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

The Indonesian port city of Balikpapan, on the island of Borneo, has declared a
state of emergency after a devastating oil spill spread along the coast, killing
four fisherman when it ignited.
The oil spill, which occurred over the weekend, has now stretched to an area of
around seven square miles (18 sq km), contaminating the sea and polluting the
air with thick black smoke. One protected dugong has already washed up dead
on the shore.

The four fisherman died after being caught up in the fire caused by the spill –
another is still missing – and the port city of Balikpapan, which has a population
of 700,000, is struggling to deal with the toxic smoke.

“We’re in a state of emergency because of the oil spill’s impact,” said the
Balikpapan city secretary MN Fadli. Around 1,200 people who live in the
Penajam North Penajam Paser subdistrict reported symptoms of nausea,
vomiting and breathing problems after the spill caught fire on Saturday and the
city has distributed masks to help residents cope with the smell.

“I may sound like I’m exaggerating, but the state of the bay is like that of a gas
station,” said Fadli.

The spill is thought to have been caused by a bulk coal carrier, which was
carrying coal from Indonesia to Malaysia, but samples have also been taken
from Pertamina, a state-owned oil refinery that has pipelines across the bay.
Pertamina has denied it is responsible for the leak.

The full environmental impact of the oil spill is not yet known but it is already
affecting the livelihoods of the local fisherman who rely on going out in their
boats every day.

The Indonesian Environment and Forestry Ministry said a recovery team was
working to contain and clean up the spill. Rasio Ridho Sani, the director general
of the ministry, said: “Our team in the field is investigating it thoroughly. We
will soon find out how big the impact is on the environment and who will be
held responsible.”
Riau ups wildfire alert status
Rizal Harahap
The Jakarta Post

Pekanbaru, Riau | Tue, February 20, 2018 | 05:50 pm

Firefighters extinguish a peatland fire in Pekanbaru, Riau, on Feb. 1 in one of 73 detected hotspots causing haze in
Sumatra. Haze is an annual problem in Indonesia, caused by fires in forest areas and on carbon-rich peatland, which
are often set to intentionally to clear land for plantations. (AFP/Wahyudi)

The Riau administration has increased the emergency status for peatland and forest fires in
the province to alert level 3 following fires that burned down hundreds of hectares of
peatland as the region enters the dry season this year.

Acting Riau governor Wan Thamrin Hasyim said on Monday that the emergency status
would remain in effect until May 31.

He said the province’s peatland and forest fire emergency status had been increased after
three regencies, Bengkalis, Indragiri Hilir and Pelalawan, had declared the emergency
status in response to the increasing risk of wildfires.

“After assessing the situation and getting input from all parties, such as regency
administrations that have declared peatland and forest fire emergency status, I hereby
decide that Riau is in a state of emergency for peatland and forest fires,” said Wan Thamrin
in a coordination meeting.
"We don't want another haze disaster in Riau. We are anticipating it early by declaring the
emergency status, so that we can immediately form a task force to take preventive action,"
Wan said.

He said prolonged hot weather had led to widespread forest fires in several regencies.
Around 540 hectares of land had burned.Earlier this year, the Riau Disaster Mitigation
Agency (BPBD) detected 59 hotspots spread out across the province’s 12 cities and
regencies. Pelalawan and Indragiri Hilir recorded the highest numbers of hotspots at 20
and 11, respectively. (ebf)