Following the oil spill incident on 14 June 2024, there are understandable health and safety concerns amongst the public.
However, authorities have assured us that our fish supply and water are still safe for consumption.
Fish Farms and Water Supply Not Affected by Oil Spill
In a Facebook post published by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), authorities have confirmed that local fish farms are unaffected by the oil spill.
They added that local fish remains safe for consumption as the SFA continues to monitor the situation closely.
In addition to this, a statement released on 17 June 2024 said that Singapore’s National Water Agency, PUB, has updated that operations at Singapore’s desalination plants and freshwater reservoirs remain unaffected.
The closest desalination plant to the oil spill, Jurong Island Desalination Plant, has not detected oil near the seawater intake point.
The Marina East Desalination Plant is currently in “reservoir mode”, treating water from the Marina Reservoir instead of seawater.
PUB added that the oil spill has been limited to coastal areas and some coastal drains, which are not linked to our freshwater reservoirs.
On top of this, the air quality remains well within safe levels, as the National Environment Agency (NEA) has been conducting daily air quality tests in affected areas since 15 June 2024.
These tests measure the levels of organic compounds and no anomalies have been detected along Sentosa, East Coast Park and Labrador Nature Reserve.
Next Phase of Clean-Up Operations
Since the allision of two vessels on 14 June 2024, authorities have closed multiple beaches and implemented several measures to prevent the escalation of the oil spillage.
Additional booms have been deployed on top of those already deployed at Keppel Marina, East Coast Park, Labrador Nature Reserve and West Coast Park.
These booms are floating physical barriers which slow the spread of oil and keep it contained.
It was also reported in the press release that some oil was seen off of Changi on 17 June 2024.
In response to those sightings, oil-absorbent booms have been deployed off biodiversity-sensitive areas like Chek Jawa Wetlands at Pulau Ubin, Coney Island Park and Pasir Ris Park.
Over the next few days, authorities will continue deploying additional containment and absorbent booms to protect the fish farms at the East Johor Straits as well as Chek Jawa and Changi Creek.
Two Current Buster systems have also been deployed off Labrador Nature Reserve and Bedok Jetty to collect the weathered oil and one more will be deployed on 18 June 2024 off the Changi Exhibition Centre as a pre-emptive measure.
These systems are capable of collecting up to five tonnes of oil before having to discharge the collected oil.
As for the clean-up operations along the beaches, Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) has reported that while it is a labour-intensive process, there has been a steady improvement in the removal of oil slicks from its beaches.
Cleaning at East Coast Park and Labrador Nature Reserve will also continue steadily while Sisters’ Islands Marine Park still sees no signs of oil slicks, with an oil sheen observed only in surrounding waters.
Needless to say, there needs to be a lot of work put into cleaning up this mess, and we can only hope that it will get better in the coming days.
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