Inquiry begins into Hua Hin oil slick

Inquiry begins into Hua Hin oil slick

Tourists look at the ugly mixture of oil and garbage washed up at Chaiwat Satyaem beach, Hua Hin, Oct 27 2015 (Post Today photo)
Tourists look at the ugly mixture of oil and garbage washed up at Chaiwat Satyaem beach, Hua Hin, Oct 27 2015 (Post Today photo)

A joint committee is being formed to investigate the cause of the oil slick that polluted a 10-kilometre stretch of beach between Hua Hin and Khao Takiap in Prachuap Khiri Khan province on Tuesday.

The investigation was confirmed by Veerasak Puengrassami, acting director-general of the Mineral Fuels Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Daily News Online reported on Wednesday.

One of the agencies invoved would be the Marine Department of the Transport Ministry, he said.

Mr Veerasak said that iinternational navigation law allows a vessel which is more than 12 nautical miles off shore to be flushed and the used water discharged into the sea.  This might be the source of the oil  and oil-coated balls that washed ashore.

Employees of SGS Thailand Co and  the provincial energy office had alreay collected samples of the pollution at Khao Takiap, Cha-am and Hua Hin beaches.

The samples had been sent to a laboratory in Belgium for analysis and the results were expected in four to six weeks, he said.

The findings would show whether the oil came from any of the petroleum-related activities in the Gulf of Thailand, he said.

However, initial checks with companies involved in the drilling, production and delivery of crude oil in the Gulf of Thailand indicated there had been no reported oil leakages, Mr Veerasak added.

He believed the cleanup of the beaches would be finished on Wednesday afternoon as no more incoming oil had been found.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (2)