Oil from sunken tanker reaches Bulacan province
Oil from a tanker carrying 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel that sank in bad weather off Bataan last Thursday has leaked into Bulacan province, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Sunday.
Rear Admiral Armando Balilo, PCG spokesperson, said in an online press briefing: ''"Yes, we can confirm that. Our people on the ground, they are also attending to the reported oil spill in Hagonoy.''
He confirmed a report by environmental group Greenpeace that the oil spill that reached Hagonoy was three kilometers long.
Balilo said the siphoning of oil from the tanker was postponed until the nine valves of the ship were sealed.
“The order from (PCG Commandant) Admiral (Ronnie) Gavan, under the guidance of the President is to seal the valves before starting the siphoning operations so that there won’t be any further leaks from the oil tanker,” said Balilo.
He said the siphoning operations could be moved to July 31 instead of Sunday.
“The deadline for patching leaks is only until tomorrow. So that, if ever it gets delayed by two days, on Tuesday, we can have siphoning operations,” Balilo said.
Environmental group Greenpeace earlier reported this, adding that the oil spill might head for Bulacan, Cavite and Pampanga.
The tanker Terra Nova sank 7.4 kilometers off Limay, Bataan. A crew member died as the tanker was trying to return to port.
In a statement, the PCG said Harbor Star divers had finished the application of the second layer of the sealant at around 10:42 am. Jaspearl Tan/DMS
