Official: Australian oil spill worse than thought

BRISBANE, Australia — Ten times more oil than originally thought leaked from a ship to blacken miles of white sand beaches along Australia's northeast coast, a government official said Saturday.

Authorities declared a disaster zone along 37 miles (60 kilometers) of some of Australia's most popular beaches in Queensland state after they were covered in a blanket of heavy fuel oil that spilled from a ship hit by rough seas on Wednesday.

Queensland state Deputy Premier Paul Lucas told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio Saturday that officials originally thought between 5,300 and 7,900 gallons (20,000 and 30,000 liters) of oil had leaked from the ship. Lucas said it is "now apparent" that the amount of oil spilled was around 60,700 gallons (230,000 liters). He did not explain how he arrived at that estimate or offer any further details.

Anthony Tregoning, spokesman for Britain's Swire Shipping Ltd., the Hong Kong-registered ship's owner, said the company would not be releasing any further figures on how much oil had spilled.

Queensland officials accused the company of initially misleading the government about the size of the spill. Premier Anna Bligh said the company told the government the spill was much smaller, leading officials to predict there would be little environmental damage.

Swire said containers of fertilizer had slipped from the ship's deck as it rocked in rough seas, ripping a hole in a fuel tank and spilling more than 11,000 gallons (42,500 liters) of oil into the sea. On Friday, the company said an inspection of the hull led it to conclude the amount of spilled oil was "significantly more" than that, but did not give a figure.

National parks at Moreton and Bribie islands just north of the state capital of Brisbane were hardest hit by the oil, and fuel also washed ashore in pockets along the Sunshine Coast.

Hundreds of government workers trudged along beaches Saturday, scooping up black, sludgy sand and throwing it into bags. Bligh said most of the cleanup on the Sunshine Coast and Bribie Island was completed Saturday, though the cleanup of Moreton Island was expected take longer.

The Environmental Protection Agency said no dead wildlife had been discovered so far.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said the ship, brought to port still leaking oil, would not be allowed to leave until officials were satisfied the spill had been explained. Queensland officials threatened the shipping company with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit.

Under Australian law, the ship's owners face fines of up to 2 million Australian dollars ($1.3 million) and could be liable for up to AU$250 million ($160 million) more in penalties for causing environmental damage.

In a statement, Swire said it regretted the extent of the pollution caused by the spill and said the company and its insurers were talking with the government about cleanup costs.

Comments

[TJCole]

They just need to to get the same lawyers Exxon Mobil had and a bought off Supreme Court of Federalist Society majority and this oil spill won't cost the company squat..

[johnb3950]

I just recently saw a picture of a typical modern cargo ship with containers STACKED on its upper deck. They looked ready to go overboard in any moderate sea. I suppose the thought is that the ships are big enough to not be much affected by typical wave action...but the thought can be horribly wrong and not all waves are "typical."

We were better off when cargo was carried in the hold(s) and stowing cargo was a skilled job performed with a view to ensuring stability in rough seas. Sure, it took more labor than hoisting a stack of containers aboard. Not a bad thing: meant jobs for the longshoremen, and made the goods a bit more expensive, so our toy stores wouldn't be stuffed with plastic crap from China, and our supermarkets would not be filled with tasteless unripe out-of-season foods from across the world. We would learn to eat more appropriately for the season, and buy more local things, beyond food.

Free trade has some serious drawbacks.

[rikkirighteous]

Oil leaks occur naturally and have for thousands of years.

http://freeenergynews.com/Directory/Theory/SustainableOil/

Gad zoons, Titan's moons!

[jmndodge]

The fertilizer may turn out to be the more significant factor in environmental damage. unless the containers were and remained water tight, and are able to be found and recovered, they will change significantly the environment into which they leak.

[MarkInEugene]

True ...just look at the BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) figures for the Gulf of Mexico destroyed by amonium nitrate fertilizer run off into the Mississippi across middle America.

Time is short....we need to act, reduce our numbers, create new economic models not based on growth at any cost. Humankind needs a quantum leap and a complete new approach that addresses environmental concerns on an equal footing with financial concerns.

[LMPE]

The problem is that they transport this stuff to begin with.

[Finvarra]

Does Australia want to hire us and send us down there?
Because I'm ready to go and help clean up the mess.

[MarkInEugene]

Sweet earth-person

[DrJohnnySkeptic]

Between this and the wildfires that killed millions of innocent animals, I am completely distraught about all of this. It's just awful that all this horror and devastation has hit Australia all at once - or even at all.

My heart goes out to all of the victims of both these tragedies - especially the animals who perished in the fires and the water creatures who have undoubtedly lost their lives due to the oil spill that sounds like it could've been prevented.

[dozaa]

Me, too. I sent them some money for animal rescue efforts. This is heartbreaking.

[MarkInEugene]

And you guys would be labeled "Extreme Environmentalist". I thank god, there are conscious people like you on the planet. But you are rare voices indeed!

Thank you for your understanding. Time is short for the current eco systems on this planet. And the other millions of species would thank you if they also had your intelligence.

[Mark Butterworth]

Just some additional background (from someone in Queensland):

The ship, the Pacific Adventurer, was travelling north carrying a load of Ammonium Nitrate (yes, the stuff that explodes when mixed with petrol). For some reason, the skipper decided he could outlast a category 4 storm (recently downgraded from a category 5) and so headed straight for it. Unsurprisingly, he came to grief as he tried to menouvre into the Port of Brisbane (the entrance for this is just north of Moreton Island, the location most heavily affected).

In massive seas, the vessel lost between 30-50 containers (holding the ammonium nitrate) overboard and, in the process, several punctured the side of the ship (once on each side) resulting in the oil spill. The containers carrying the Ammonium Nitrate remain MIA, so we're yet to determine if this will be a bigger disaster than the oil. As they've been unable to find ANY of the containers, the assumption is they're sitting at the bottom of the ocean a matter of 30-40 miles offshore.

Question are being raised (again) about "flags of convenience" ships and their suitability for active service. Comments have made of the state of the deck mounts (used to hold the containers) let alone why anyone would try to outrun a Category 4 storm.

Hope that enlightens you all some more ...

[anothermba]

So you are saying it was Stupid Man vs. Dumb Nature. And the outcome was Nature 1, Man 0?

[doctordoubt]

You can't fix stupid.

[flyyspitt]

was 5-8 thousand but OOPS its more like SIXTY thousand gallons..

how this can go on is beyond me..if its 60 freakin thousand let the ppl be prepared for it FFS..

truly sickening but then again its oil companies and they will pay very little for it

[JulieSA]

It wasn't an oil company. It was a cargo ship.

[larry278]

WTF cares? Oz is neelessly suffering pollution of its Qld beaches because some 1/2 assed, 1/2 wits didn't batten the cargo down properly & take great caution to prevent this needless incident of pollution. JMFC. Clean up the mess & play the blame game later, much later. The culprits for this instance of pollution must be punished; they can be found as the clean up goes on, can't they?

[MarkInEugene]

What a shame. The clock is ticking on humanity. We behave like an infestation to this earth. This magnificent creature would die without this intervention. The chance for us to reach a tipping point before it is too late is fast approaching. We need to reduce our numbers. We need to start behaving in a symbiotic fashion rather than a careless and haphazard cancer on this planet. We are the species with high intelligence and we could decide to preserve this precious pearl among untold dark, lifeless, foreboding planets conceivably within our reach.

We need to use our intelligence, science and technology to not only preserve our environment but improve our species. Humanity can no longer afford to be stupid, careless, breeding, consuming, polluting, and ignorant. We live in a finite space and we are fouling our own nest.

[vigwig]

How many untold numbers of endangered species will be destroyed by this carelessness.

[JulieSA]

Probably zero, unless there's a concentration of endangered endemics on that 40-mile stretch. The article says they've found no dead animals yet. Of, course, it usually takes awhile for the full effects of a spill to become evident.

[macohmz]

Whenever I read of stories like this I think of all those rumors of suppressed technologies that would free us and the world from the blood-stained hands of the oil companies. The governmental powers that be fight like hell to keep things the way they are and this is the price we pay.

[ChelseaC]

It's so sad--seeing the pelican covered in oil-- all those poor innocent animals exposed to this. I hope the clean up will be carried out quickly and appropriately.

[OLEGAR]

This incident wasn't caused by the "Oil Companies" nor are they responsible for the thousands of foreign "registered" ships plying the oceans with huge amounts of cargo and millions of gallons of bunker oil they carry for fuel . This is a cargo ship, possibly poorly loaded, getting into weather beyond the ability of the crew to handle. The horrible side effect was the rupture of the fuel tank and thus the spill. Lying or the misrepresentation of the size of the discharge is, if not criminal, shows at least a desire to diminish criminal charges and avoid full responsibility.

I weep for the pristine coasts that will be spoiled for decades by this careless act.

[zanzig]

This is a fair comment. What the report above does not detail is that there was actually a Tropical Cyclone at the time of this breach of the ship's hull. It wasn't just "rough seas". There had already been mass evacuations of residents along the coast and almost all of northern Queensland was battened down in the face of TC Hamish, a category 4 storm with winds of 175kms per hour.

It is an environmental tragedy, and should be paid for by the company, but I don't think the blame lies entirely with them. I wonder who the ship was insured with?