Wednesday, August 23, 2006

[oil spill] petron doing a wonderful job, according to petron

A Japanese salvage ship was due in the Philippines on Saturday to begin siphoning industrial fuel from a sunken tanker off the central island of Guimaras, oil refiner Petron Corp. said on Wednesday.

Experts from the Japanese and U.S. coast guards joined Philippine disaster officials to assess the damage to dozens of communities in the provinces of Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental.

"While aerial surveys indicate that the leak has stopped, we have been gravely concerned about the possibility that the oil in the vessel will continue to be released," Petron Chairman Nicasio Alcantara said in a statement.

Coast guard and Petron officials have given conflicting statements about whether there are new leaks from the tanker, which is estimated to be 640 meters (2,100 feet) under water. The slick has since spread to 27 fishing villages in the towns of Concepcion and Ajuy in Iloilo, with officials saying it now threatens the islands of Negros, Cebu and Masbate.

Petron said it was employing an average of 740 people per day in Guimaras, paying them 200 pesos each to clean the beaches and mangrove trees of the black sludge.

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