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DENR to impose fines on owner of barge in Iloilo oil spill —Antiporda


Oil spill Iloilo City power barge blast DENR

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will impose fines on the owner of a barge involved in an oil spill in Iloilo on Friday, Undersecretary Benny Antiporda said on Sunday.

In a statement, Antiporda said the department will issue a notice of violation to AC Energy for violation of Clean Water Act or Republic Act (RA) 9275.

“Notice of violation based on RA 9275 (Clean Water Act) will be issued. A Technical Conference will be called to address the oil spill focusing on the cleanup operations,” he said.

Antiporda added that the case will be forwarded to the Pollution Adjudication Board (PAB) for the assessment of fines.

“The case will be endorsed to PAB for computation of fines against AC Energy,” Antiporda added.

According to Antiporda, the AC Energy is conducting a cleanup operation in affected marine areas, with the help of third party  Harbor Star Shipping Services.

Cleanup operations will follow the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan with the supervision of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), the DENR official said.

Containing the spill within the barge area and preventing it from going into the shoreline—where it is harder to clean and collect—is the priority procedure of the cleanup, he pointed out.

“The Regional Incident Management Team is created to monitor all aspects of the cleanup from the affected community, health impacts, environmental impacts, and waste management,” he said.

Antiporda noted that the recommended cleanup of heavy bunker fuel in mangroves will allow the waves to disperse the oil, which will be collected after being drifted to the sea.

“Sorbents and manual cleanup are recommended but must be strictly monitored so as not to disturb the mangroves in the area which may causes more harm than good,” Antiporda said.

“Use of dispersant in the mangroves should not be recommended due to adverse effects to the mangroves,” he added.

On the other hand, the PCG said it will file criminal raps against AC Energy if warranted.

At least 63 households were displaced due to the fumes that drifted to their area after the explosion of AC Energy’s Power Barge 102 on Friday afternoon.

In a statement, AC Energy said the company and a third party firm are conducting an investigation into the incident to determine the "root cause" of the explosion that ignited the fuel gases inside the sealed tank. —LBG, GMA News

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