OIL SPILLS

What does Malaysia and the United States of America have in common in
this period of 2 months? No it has nothing to do with any sporting or global
event. Rather, it is a very shameful event that will haunt America more than it
will haunt Malaysia, that is oil spill. Oil spills are release of a liquid petroleum
hydrocarbon into the environment due to human activity and is also a form of
pollution. This term has always been closely related to marine oil spills, where oil
is released into the ocean. Both Malaysia and America join in the ranks of many
countries that are associated with oil spills including Iraq (Gulf War oil spill),
Uzbekistan (Fergana Valley), the hosts of 2010 FIFA World Cup-South Africa
(Castillo de Bellver) and many more. The oil spill which is related to Malaysia is
known as the Singapore oil spill as it occurred in Singaporean waters but it
involved a Malaysian ship and the effects are affecting Malaysia. The ships that
were involved were MT Bunga Kelana 3 and MV Waily. From this collision, 2000
tonnes of crude oil had spilled into the ocean.

Many might believe that oil spills only happen by accidents, but there also
exists other reasons for oil spills to occur. Firstly, oil spills can occur due to
carelessness which is always the fault of human error. People who are in the oil
and gas industry cannot afford to make any slip ups as it will cost them dearly.
The workers in the oil and gas industry especially, play a major part to avoid any
type of error. If it does happen, they might as well kiss their job and social life
goodbye if he is found guilty as oil spills are nothing to be fooled around with as
it can cause adverse effects to the environment. Oil spills also do occur due to
accidents. These accidents are usually related with an accidental collision of an
oil tanker or even a blown up oil rig. The oil and gas industry is a no joke industry
as a minor glitch or accident can change the lives of many in just a blink of an
eye. Although the saying goes that “not every man is perfect”, the environment
cannot afford to be destroyed by oil spills. Thirdly, oil spills also occur due to acts
of aggression by terrorists or in a war. The most obvious example would be
during the Gulf War in Iraq on January 31st 1991. A total of 1230000 tonnes of
crude oil was spilled making it one of the worst oil spills in the history of the
modern world. After a war is over and the previous invaders are pushed out of
the country by the victors of the war, they will tend to destroy whatever that
they have built during their reign, even if that includes blowing up oil rigs so that
the victor will not be able to get the riches. Oil spills which are usually that of
petroleum, which is a mixture of hydrocarbons, spread on water surface due to
their physical characteristics of having a low density, is capable of killing
thousands of animals, whether on land, water or air not forgetting plant life as
well. The petroleum that has just been extracted from the oil wells are thick,
black and viscous in liquid form. This form of oil is not refined as the ones that
we get at the petrol stations as it has not undergone a process called fractional
distillation. This state of the oil is very dangerous as it can make an animal or
plant be coated with oil slick or worse, animals may drink it, thus leading to their
imminent death.
 As mentioned above, oil spills result in an ultimate environmental disaster.
Oil spills mostly affects marine life like fish and also birds and other creatures of
the sea and land. The gooey oil from the spill penetrates up the structure of the
plumage of birds, reducing its insulating ability thus making the avian more
vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in water. It also
impairs the birds flying abilities to escape from predators. When they try to clean
up their feathers, they tend to ingest it hence leading to many organ
complications which will slowly but surely cause the death of the birds. Sea
mammals on the other hand like sea otters, and seals are also affected in the
same way where it can lead to hypothermia. The ingestion of these oils causes
dehydration and impaired digestions in the mammals. How the oil spills affect
plant life is quite complicating as it starts with the layer of oil on the surface of
the water thus blocking sunlight from penetrating into the water, limiting
photosynthesis process by the phytoplankton. Now as plants are producers in the
food chain, if they were to die, all other consumers in the chain would be
affected. Oil spills also indirectly affect local industries such as the workers of the
shipping fleet, and tourist industries. During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, an
oil spill exploded killing 11 men which lead to the much hyped about oil spill in
the history of the world. Closer to home, Singapore, who suffered a similar state
when they were affected by an oil spill after a collision between 2 tankers, was
about to start it’s summer holidays when the said disaster struck. The most
popular stretch of beaches in Singapore were closed by officials. Although they
could not swim or play in the sand, families that were at the seaside had to settle
with just having a picnic, jogging and cycling only. Over at the country of the
“Star-spangled banner”, beaches were also forced to close down after
researches warned that the slick would be reaching soon. This also meant the
shutdown of almost all hotels at the beachside. This brought the tourism industry
of all beachside areas to an abrupt halt as clean-up work commenced. Many
families planning to spend their weekend at the seaside were left choiceless
after their favourite holiday spot was closed. Another undoubted effect that oil
spills have is, of course, in the fishing industry where related industries and
workers are affected. Fishing industries were and still are affected by the oil spill.
In Malaysia for example, 1400 fishermen were affected by the oil spill at
Pengerang in southern Johore. It even caught the attention of the Johore Ruler’s
consort, Raja Zarith Sofiah Almarhum Sultan Idris Shah, who expressed regret
over the catastrophe which threatened the daily lives of fishermen in Pengerang.
An oil spill directly damage the boats and gear used in catching and cultivating
marine species. Their floating equipments and fixed traps extending above the
sea surface are more likely to be contaminated by the oil spill compared to
submerged fishing equipments. Although sometimes the government may have
released a notice regarding the catching of fish and shellfish in the area, some
ignorant fishermen tend to ignore the warning that was meant to maintain the
fishing gear and catches from contamination and go ahead to go fishing where
they will get what they bargained for, that is contaminated catches and polluted
fishing gear.
 With the current situation of oil spills being this severe, it is high time
where immediate actions are needed. Among the action needed is for
organizations to do prompt clean-up jobs. Environmentalists like the Animal
Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) in Singapore headed by
Anbarasi Boopal led a team of environmentalists who helped to comb the
beaches to avoid maximum damage. In Malaysia, most of the cleanup work is
being done by the Department of Environment (DOE) who collected all the
contaminated sand to be disposed of carefully. Over in Uncle Sam, several non-
profit organizations were playing their part to save the environment. Among
them include Matter of Trust. It all started when Phil Mcrory, a hairstylist
discovered that hair can be used to collect and contain spills. Since it is an easy
way to reduce the damage done, volunteers are signing up to donate hair, fur
clippings and nylon. American Red Cross and Continental 2000 are another
example of organizations working hand-in-hand to help in cleaning up the oil
spills. Just by having organizations to do clean up jobs is never enough. Stricter
laws and reinforcement is also vital if we wish to prevent this from ever
happening again. These laws should not be signed into power right after an oil
spill has occurred. Like in America, the Oil Pollution Act was signed into law in
1990 as an immediate reaction to the crash of the oil tanker Exxon Valdez near
Alaska. Instead it should be done beforehand. Although the Oil Pollution Act
managed to do a number of things to prevent oil spills in the future, it sometimes
helps to have more laws related to oil spills. Charges have to be made against
the culprit and he or she should have to pay the price of running the ecosystem.

As a conclusion, oil spills are one of those types of disasters that not just
affects the environment but to the extent the government and also the economy.
Therefore, stringent measures must be applied to prevent this from happening in
the future, for all we may know, another oil rig has just blown up and the oil spill
is moving at a fast speed spreading to all the 5 major oceans now!

Reported by,

……………………………………………….

(JAIYOGESH RAMESH PATEL)