The sea current and waves are believed to have led to the expansion of an oil spill in East Kalimantan’s Balikpapan Bay from 12,987 hectares to 20,000-ha. Cleanup is expected to be completed on April 9.
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JAKARTA, KOMPAS – An oil spill in Balikpapan Bay, East Kalimantan, has expanded from 12,987 hectares to 20,000-ha. This might have been triggered by the sea current and waves. Concerns remain that there has been unknown undersea pipe leakage in the area.
The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry’s sea and coastal data laboratory head, Widodo Pranowo, said in Jakarta on Friday (6/4/2018) that Cosmo Skymed and Sentinel satellite images had shown on April 1 that the oil spill in Balikpapan Bay was 120 square kilometers or 12,000-hectares wide. On April 5, the oil spill had expanded to 200-sq km or 20,000-ha.
National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (Lapan) remote sensing center engineer Maryani Hartuti said that, “With newly analyzed area, the estimated expanse of oil spill based on satellite images on April 2, 2018, reached 13,559.5-ha.”
Previously, satellite analysis data on April 1 processed by Lapan showed an oil spill area of 12,987-ha. “The satellite images showed that the oil spill reached the river’s upstream region and the sea,” she said. Maryani said oil spill expansion might have been caused by the sea current, waves and wind.
However, Widodo said, more detailed monitoring would be necessary to find the causes of the oil spill expansion. “The source [of the leak] may not have been properly shut; or the source may already be closed and the oil spill volume remains the same but it has been diluted and carried away by tidal waves, leading to oil spill expansion,” he said.
Cleanup
The oil spill is being gradually cleaned up from the waters and coastal area of Balikpapan Bay. Apart from the manual beach cleanup, Pertamina has also deployed four teams on 15 oil spill cleanup boats since Wednesday. “Recovery after the oil spill involves oil absorbents and vacuum trucks,” Pertamina Kalimantan regional communications and CSR manager Yudi Nugraha said in a press statement on Friday.
The move, he said, had resulted in cleaner and better beach and waters compared to two days earlier. “Currently, on the fifth day [after the oil spill], the sea in Balikpapan is clean again,” Yudi said.
However, layers of oil can still be found on the wooden foundations of locals’ stilt houses and on mangrove tree trunks.
“Pertamina promises that everything will be clean on April 9,” Environment and Forestry Ministry director general of environmental pollution and destruction MR Karliansyah said in Jakarta on Friday.
Separately, Indonesian Marine Scholars’ Association (Iskindo) marine ecologist Sakdullah said that oil layers can pose a serious environmental threat on mangrove trees, especially if the oil layers cover the trees’ pneumatophores (roots that grow upward and function as respiratory organs). Oil layer may also be fatal for biota living in the mangrove tree ecosystem, including crabs, fishes, shrimps and clams.
Despite its thinness, layers of oil film on water surface may disrupt photosynthesis process on coral reef and seagrass. The oil layer may decrease the rate of dissolved oxygen in the water due to disrupted oxygen supply through the air-sea interaction process.
Karliansyah said that his team was measuring the impact and expanse of the oil spill on seagrass and coral reef ecosystems. “This is to support law enforcement if it is necessary,” he said.
Investigative team
Police are still investigating the cause of damage to the undersea crude oil transfer pipe in Cape Penajam. The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has deployed an investigative team to look into the matter. The team’s recommendation, including on mechanism of sanction, will be submitted to the authorities.
“On sanction and other matters, we will also look at the pollution from the perspective of the Environment and Forestry Ministry. We have completed our observation from the oil and gas perspective to make sure whether everything is in accordance with the procedures or not,” Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arcandra Tahar said. Arcandra said that the important thing to be evaluated is Pertamina’s swift response in resolving this crisis of damaged undersea pipes.
Karliansyah said that the Environment and Forestry Ministry had ordered Pertamina to audit its operational safety system in all installations at its Refinery Unit V in Balikpapan to prevent similar incidents in the future. The state-owned oil and gas company is requested to upgrade its piping installation, which is more than 20 years old, with an early warning system.