July 30, 2013
KO SAMET, Thailand (AFP) - Environmentalists accused a Thai energy firm Tuesday of understating the fallout from a major pipeline leak as the navy warned the oil slick might reach the mainland.
Tourists were leaving as workers in protective suits used hoses, buckets and shovels to clean up blackened sand and waves of oil which washed ashore on a beach on the once-idyllic island of Ko Samet in the Gulf of Thailand.
PTT Global Chemical said it was close to removing the oil from Ao Phrao beach on the island, which lies in the protected Khao Laem Ya National Park off the eastern province of Rayong.
"The clean-up operation is 80 percent complete," said PTT Global Chemical executive vice president Porntep Butniphant, who was overseeing the operation.
"We expect by tomorrow (Wednesday) everything at Ao Phrao will be back to normal," he told AFP.
Conservationist group Greenpeace, however, warned much more work needed to be done.
"It's not true to claim that 80 percent of the work is done. There is a lot of oil still in the bay," Greenpeace campaigner Ply Pirom said.
"It's very disappointing that this global company has no emergency plan to deal with the crisis."
A naval commander said there was a risk the oil would wash ashore on the mainland.
"A thin film of oil may reach the mainland. It has started to go towards there," Vice Admiral Roongsak Sereeswad told AFP, adding: "It might take a week to control it."
The government said 600 workers, including military personnel and PTT staff, were engaged in the clean-up operation.
Some visitors have cut short their holidays on Ko Samet, a popular destination for weekend breaks for Bangkok residents.
According to the pipeline operator -- which is part of state-owned giant PTT -- 50,000 litres of oil gushed into the sea on Saturday about 20 kilometres (12 miles) off the coast. Some environmentalists fear the leak might have been even bigger.
PTT said the spillage came as crude oil from an Omani tanker moored offshore was being transferred to the pipeline for delivery to its refinery.
Greenpeace on Monday urged Thailand to end oil drilling and exploration in the Gulf of Thailand in light of the leak.
Conservationists have also voiced concern about the impact of the chemicals used to disperse the spill in an area frequented by fishermen.
