All out effort to collect hair to contain RP oil slick
The oil slick formed by leaking fuel from a sunken tanker off Guimaras province has reached the coasts of at least two towns in Iloilo province on the nearby island of Panay as President Gloria Arroyo formed a task force to deal with the environmental disaster two weeks after the ship, Solar I, went down August 11.
Fears that the slick could spread further and reach as far as the island municipality of Bantayan in Cebu prompted an Iloilo congressman to urge Arroyo to declare a state of calamity over the whole of Western Visayas. The Philippine Coast Guard, meanwhile, said the Petron-chartered tanker had sprung a new leak yesterday. The disaster is expected to cost 48 million pesos (Bt35.1 million) in lost marine resources and affect 2,500 fisherfolk, Senator Edgardo Angara said. In Manila, the owner of a chain of hair salons has ordered all his 200 branches and franchises nationwide to collect customer's hair after learning from international environmental group Greenpeace that human hair can prove valuable in containing the oil. The oil, which has taken on a tar-like consistency after "coagulating" with seawater, has reached the coasts of Ajuy and Concepcion towns, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) chief, Vice Admiral Arthur Gosingan said. Iloilo Representative Rolex Suplico said the slick had reached Pulopina Island in Concepcion, some 150 kilometres north of the site where the Solar I sank last week. The PCG estimated 350,000 of the estimated two million litres carried by the Solar I has so far leaked out. "It's definite that there is a [new] leak," Gosingan told Philippine television. He said the oil was "probably" coming out at 200 litres an hour. But with authorities unsure whether to try to re-float the vessel or suck out the remaining fuel, there is a race against the clock because of fears that the water pressure at that depth could burst the remaining containers at any time. Les Reyes of Reyes Haircutters said his chain of salons started collecting hair on Tuesday. "All cut hair will be kept in garbage bags, and will be collected by our office. We will then deliver them to the Coast Guard and Greenpeace," he said. Reyes said each of his salons could produce at least one big garbage bag of hair a day. Reyes said all members of the Philippine International Hairdressers Association have also signified their intention to join in the efforts to clean up what is believed to be the worst oil spill in the country. In the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, human hair was found to have great adsorptive quality.
Philippine Daily Inquirer Asia News Network Manila
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