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MANILA: The United States government is providing an oil spill response training to the Philippines on top of its ongoing support in the Bataan recovery efforts.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) will fund the training slated October and November, which will be facilitated by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Response and Restoration (OR and R).
The training will help build the capacity of the Department of Environment and Natural Resource-Biodiversity Management Bureau.
The US is one of the countries that extended assistance in the Bataan oil spill response and has so far deployed eight experts from NOAA and the US Coast Guard.
It earlier activated the US National Response Team (NRT), a network of 15 federal agencies that provides guidance, assistance and resources for managing pollution incidents.
At present, NOAA’s spill modeling tools support operational modeling being conducted by the Philippine Coast Guard’s Marine Science Investigative Force
and an oceanographer at the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UP MSI).
The availability of these tools helps the UP MSI and Philippine authorities focus on cleanup activities, interventions, and preventative actions in appropriate places, given the potential geographic extent of the disaster.
Continuous aid
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Philippine Space Agency are also using NOAA potential oil extent maps derived from imagery captured by a number of satellites.
‘The NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator and biologist will continue to provide on-the-ground scientific and technical expertise to inform the response effort and a remote OR and R team continues to support, as needed,’ the NOAA said in a statement dated Aug. 15.
‘Future operations for the NRT will be to support the Philippine Incident Management Team by reviewing the lightering and salvage plans and providing recommendations,’ it added.
The oil tanker MT Terra Nova sank near the coast of Lamao Point in Limay on J
uly 25 as Super Typhoon Carina and the enhanced southwest monsoon stirred heavy rains and rough waves.
The vessel was carrying 1.4 million liters (370,000 gallons) of industrial fuel.
In the immediate aftermath of the spill, the NOAA said an oil sheen and slick were observed in western Manila Bay. While there have been some initial impacts to shorelines, there is minimal shoreline oiling now, the NOAA said.
The PCG, meanwhile, is continuously conducting oil seeping from the vessel.
Source: Philippines News Agency
