SOUTH KOREA: South Korea tries to tally the damage from its worst oil spill

Record ID: 343343

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: South Korea tries to tally the damage from its worst oil spill
  • Date: 10th December 2007
  • Summary: (W2) TAEAN, SOUTH KOREA (DECEMBER 10, 2007) (REUTERS) SHIPS AT ANCHOR IN THE HARBOR DIGGER SCRAPPING WASTE ON SHIP AND LOADING IT TO TRUCK FISHERMEN STRUGGLING TO CLEAN UP WASTE SCRAPPED ON SEA OIL ABSORBENTS FLOATING AT SEA ON OIL SLICK FISHERMEN TAKING OIL ABSORBENTS OUT OF WATER OIL ABSORBENTS FLOATING ON POLLUTED WATER (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) 48-YEAR-OLD FISHERMAN SON
  • Embargoed: 25th December 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Environment / Natural World
  • Reuters ID: LVA921THXKBG1SFSA2L186HPXMZX
  • Story Text: South Korea tries to tally the environmental and economic damage from the worst oil spill in the country's history as thousands struggle to clean up long stretches of blackened coastline.
    South Korea tried on Monday (December 10) to tally the environmental and economic damage from the worst oil spill in the country's history as thousands struggled to clean up long stretches of blackened coastline.
    The slick came from a very large crude carrier after it was struck by a barge that had been washed up in an area spanning more than 40 km (25 miles) of the region of Taean-- on the west coast about 150 km southwest of Seoul.

    "It would take over one year, maybe ten years from now to be cleaned. Anyway we cannot live on doing nothing. Also not one or two fishermen is undergoing sorts of this trouble. We're all devastated," said 48-year-old Song Ki-man, who is living in Taean.
    Residents of Taean and environmentalists said the spill was a devastating blow to the local fisheries industries and to the nature reserve along the coastline.
    48-year-old Lee Yoon-gwan said: "Whole kinds of fish, sea gull and shell fish are dying right now. So we're all concerned about how government will manage this disaster because every fisherman and sea farmers are included and they are all seriously damaged."
    The region is home to the Taean Haean national park, famous for its sandy beaches popular with tourists, marine farms and oyster beds.

    "You cannot eat oysters even if there a tiny amount of oil dropped on them because of the oil smell. This entire bed cannot be eaten because these are all fully covered in oil," said Jeon Yong-yoo, a fisherman who owns oyster beds bear the coastline.
    For most fishermen, it's the season to harvest what they've been cultivating for several months.

    "I don't know to live. We make our living by oyster farming.
    However, because of this oil spill, the oyster farms are totally destroyed," said Kim Young-ho, a resident of Taean.
    The damage from the spill of an estimated 10,500 tonnes of crude from the Hong Kong-registered Hebei Spirit and the cost of cleaning was expected to far surpass the 96 billion won (104.5 million U.S. dollars) it cost South Korea after a 1995 spill in the south coast with about half the amount of oil released.
    The total cost from the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, which was about three times bigger, was an estimated $9.5 billion, covering clean-up and settlement of claims.
    The government has declared parts of the Taean county "a special disaster area" and will release an initial fund of 6 billion won (6.5 million U.S. dollars).

    "We think a few days from now are crucial. Therefore, we have to put lots of efforts from related agencies and we need a full cooperation from local residents," said South Korea Prime Minister Han Duck-soo during an emergency meeting.
    As the slick began reaching a wider section of the coastline, the government raised the number of police, troops and workers in the clean-up efforts to 8,800. They wore absorbent clothing, while the coast guard had 138 vessels releasing containment fences and oil skimmers.
    The cleanup is expected to take more than a month, Maritime Minister Kang Moo-hyun has said.
    The government has come under criticism for being slow to response to the spill.
    ENDS.
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