150k liters of bunker fuel from Yolanda-damaged barge spills off Iloilo coastline

Some 150,000 liters of bunker fuel leaked from a National Power Corp. barge damaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) last week has contaminated the coastline of Estancia town in Iloilo province, the Philippine Coast Guard said Thursday.

 

The Coast Guard said personnel of its Western Visayas unit are still trying to contain the spill.

 

"About 200,000 liters of bunker fuel from NAPOCOR Power Barge 103 spilled at the shoreline of Barangay Botongon, Estancia, Iloilo, 150,000 liters of which have already washed ashore and contaminated about a kilometer stretch of Estancia's coastline and its infrastructures," it said.

 

It added the spill already reached barangays Paon and Tanza.

 

Power barge manager Eutiquio Pagkalinawan confirmed some 200,000 liters of bunker oil spilled during a storm surge, and about 50,000 liters were still on the sea surface, the Coast Guard said.

 

It said Power Barge 103 was said to be moored at the area when a storm surge hit and eroded Estancia Pier.

 

The barge drifted to the rocky shoreline of Barangay Botongan and had its bottom hull damaged, leading to the spull..

 

The barge's crew tried to contain the spill by deploying 100-meter spill booms and using a submersible pump, the Coast Guard said.

 

Also, they sprayed oil dispersant along Botongan in Estancia.

 

For its part, the Coast Guard Estancia Sub-Station set up oil spill booms as well after an ocular inspection showed oil seeping from the barge's bottom hull.

 

A Coast Guard Western Visayas team went to Estancia with two dump trucks with 300-meter spill booms, a prime mover,  two generator sets and one sprayer equipment set.  — ELR, GMA News