11th August 2007 - 1,000 families affected by oil leakage, mop-up ops continue

By STEPHEN THEN

MIRI: An oil pipeline leak near the oil refinery bridge along the Lutong River on Wednesday has affected some 1,000 riverine families.

The villagers from Kampung Senadin, Kampung Api Api and Kampung Batu Satu, located some 20kms from here, had complained of vomiting, headaches and breathing difficulties due to the oil patches along the riverbanks and beaches.

They voiced their concern to Senadin assemblyman Lee Kim Shin who urged the authorities to make sure that Petronas carried out the cleaning job at the polluted stretch.

"The oil pollutants are in the process of being cleared. Hopefully, the environmental damage would be minimal.

"The villages have piped-water supply and they do not rely on the river water for drinking, so this would not pose any serious danger to health," said Lee.

Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd said in a statement that operations at its plant in West Lutong field plant was stopped due to a leak in a pipeline that transports crude oil from the offshore platform to the Miri Crude Oil terminal. Production resumed on Thursday.

It said oil from the production platform was now being transported to the terminal via a new pipeline which has a net capacity to transport 40,000 barrels of crude oil per day, similar to the old pipeline.

It said cleaning up operation was progressing well and most of the oil spill had been recovered.

It said that more resources had been mobilised to speed up the operation which was carried out round the clock.

Miri Department of Environment officers were also at the site to supervise the operations.

Its chief Norina Frederick Sambung said the oil company placed a barrier across the river mouth to prevent any oil slicks from polluting the South China Sea and its marine resources.

Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board enforcement chief Dania Goyog said the spill would not create any long-term damage to the environment as it had been contained.

[ Source ]