BEACH IN THAILAND CLOSES AFTER OIL SPILL WASHES ASHORE

Sat 29 January 2022:

A beach on Thailand’s east coast was closed Saturday as oil leaking from an underwater pipeline in the Gulf of Thailand washed ashore.

The leak from the pipeline of the Star Petroleum Refining Public Company started late Tuesday and had been brought under control one day later, said the company, estimating that up to 50 tons of oil had been leaked.

Thailand’s Mae Ram Phueng beach declared disaster zone following oil spill. pic.twitter.com/hVQCzRQIox

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) January 29, 2022

Thailand’s Navy is working to clean up an oil spill off the country’s east coast, that’s now threatening beaches.#Thailand pic.twitter.com/wHB1GMuyuH

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) January 29, 2022

The oil slick covered a total area of around 67 square km of the sea Saturday morning, a satellite image from the government’s Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency showed.

Oil reached the shoreline of the Mae Ramphueng beach in Rayong Province Saturday morning, forcing the local government to declare the beach a disaster area and close it to the public for clean-up operation.

The provincial authority also ordered surrounding shops to stop trading until the situation is resolved.

“We and the company are still working at sea to reduce the amount of oil by cornering the spill and sucking up the oil and spraying dispersant,” Rear Admiral Artorn Charapinyo, deputy commander of the first Naval Area command, told reporters.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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