CARRYING CAPACITY

Today, I signed an online petition against Petron Corporation which simply states the following:

“Last August 11, 2006, Solar I, a tanker chartered by Petron to transport 2 million liters of oil sank somewhere in Guimaras Straight.

The resulting oil spill affected 200 kilometers of shoreline, damaging more than 1000 hectares of mangroves in the area, and damaging seaweed plantations, coral reefs, marine reserves and rich fishing grounds. The area is known to be home to the dugong and at least 2 of the 5 turtles found in the Philippines. This incident endangered the life and livelihood of over 10,000 people in the island.

Petron is legally and morally liable for the oil spill in Guimaras. Let us unite and demand that Petron answer this tragedy and be held accountable for the loss of natural resources and livelihood of the people of the island.

Boycott Petron products until they have fulfilled their moral and legal obligations to all those affected by this tragedy. Let us also lobby for stringent laws to regulate the transport of oil and all hazardous substance in our oceans.

Sign your name and be counted.”

An hour after I signed, 100 more signed the online petition and I believe, the number will bloat out up to more than ten thousand at the end of the week.

It is really disgusting to see on TV that the spill of about 2 million liters and now creating a slick of about 50 kilometers in length and 16 sq. km. in area is being treated lightly by our government.

Last Sunday, the estimated 15 percent of oil that was spilled out from the tanker had already affected Guimaras Island’s ecosystem – 66 km of sea, 220 km of coastline, 1,143 hectares of national marine reserves and 454 hectares of mangroves. It appears that our government has no carrying capacity to address such a national disaster. All PGMA could do is order DOJ to conduct an investigation without having a concrete plan on how to address such magnitude of environmental destruction.

It is so pathetic that the persons helping in the clean up are merely using rugs or shovels to clean up the damaged shorelines affected by the spills.

In other countries, the culprits are outrightly made accountable while at the same time, resources are mobilized in order to contain the damage unlike what is happening now where people are hired at less than the daily wage using their bare hands.

Big oil spills such as ours, mechanical clean-ups such as using various types of booms and skimmers should be resorted to.

In the shorelines, vacuum trucks and other equipment may be used to retrieve the spilled oil. In beaches and resorts, high pressured hoses may be used to disperse the oil until the floating oil are gathered and trapped by several absorbent booms and then removed.

The oils that have sank deep in the sea may be tilled by backhoes and other equipment to expose the oils. The remaining oil may be treated through the so-called geo-remediation effort where beaches are fertilized to promote growth of bacteria that eat hydrocarbons.

To date, the more effective solutions, while I believe are already known to our government, are yet to find its way.

Moreover, Petron, which is substantially owned by the government, has only promised to help but has not moved it fingers. It has not shelled out any amount if only to minimize the destruction.

Exxon for instance, when its tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground and spilled about 11 million barrels of crude oil, spent about $2.1 billion and placed about 10,000 workers, 1,000 boats and 100 aircrafts which became the “army, navy and air force” of Exxon that carried out the clean up.

Surely, our government and Petron have yet to appease us on the pathetic way they have treated this malady. The responses they have made make one feel helpless in the protection of the delicate balance of nature in our country.

Should you feel like actively participating in the protest against petron, please visit, http://www.petitiononline.com/guimaras/petition.html.