On July 27, about 50,000 liters of crude oil poured into the
Gulf of Thailand from a pipeline. This is known to be the fourth major spill in
Thai’s history. This incident blackened beaches causing tourist to evacuate.
Tourism Minister Somsak Phurisisak is working on moving the visitors to other
locations of their choice to keep the business going. However, many tourists
are leaving Bangkok and some even cancelled their booking. The spillage could
spread to the coast of the mainland and affect the fishing industry. Fisherman
reported that they have caught fewer fish in the last few days and it would
take some time to estimate the damage to the fish stock. The pipeline operator,
PTT Global Chemical apologizes about the leak and said that it would take another
2 to 3 days to clean up. Ao Prao beach and Coconut Bay were the place that was
contaminated the most. Now, the environment group raised questions about the
true extent of the disaster. Unlike the description of the PTT Global Chemical
PCL (Thailand’s biggest energy firm), the problem obviously has created a big
impact on the fisheries and chemical contamination to the food chain.
Thai’s seafood market is the third most valuable in the
world, supplying the US, Europe, and Asia.
Contaminated in fish and shellfish might pose a significant risk of
cancer and other health effects. Oil contains various mixtures of chemicals
which hydrocarbons are the main ingredient that can cause cancer. Some hydrocarbons
in oil can cause skin and airway irritation, other may cause neurologic and
reproductive harm.
If PTT Global Chemical PCL doesn’t clean the beach as quickly,
the contamination might go as far as globally. Many people around the world
will get sick by eating contaminated seafood from Thailand, or the oil might
drift to different places and get people sick from other ways.
Oil spills seem to be too common in today's world. That beach featured in the picture appears to be extremely contaminated; I don't see how it could be cleaned up in just two to three days. Like you stated Cammie, this oil spill will affect tourism for not only the near future but for years to come as well. No one wants to vacation at a place that was recently contaminated with cancer causing chemicals. I looked up the status of this oil spill on another article (link below) and it said that the majority of the oil was cleaned up. However, it also stated that the effects of the 50 tons of oil may still be seen for up to years from now in the sea-life. I understand accidents happen but in my opinion accidents involving oil spills in the ocean happen much too often. It not only affects us but affects the plants and animal living in the ocean as well.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.asianewsnet.net/True-impact-of-Gulf-of-Thailand-oil-spill-may-not--49958.html
I agree with you Madison,even when the majority of oil is cleaned up, the pollution might already have done its effect. Sea creatures, especially fishes are caught to ship globally. This can highly affect our health in the future because we does not know how much or how far it had contaminated the ocean. Some where around the world, a family might be eating a contaminated dish right this moment.
ReplyDelete