Oil spill fire source tracked to leaky pipe
JAKARTA: An oil spill that caused a fire that killed five people and sickened hundreds in an Indonesian port city came from a broken pipe the state-owned energy company was using to transfer crude oil, police said yesterday.
A preliminary investigation had identified the leaking substance as marine fuel oil, but East Kalimantan police spokesman Ade Yaya Suryana said the latest sample confirmed it was crude oil from a pipe laid on the seabed and owned by state oil and gas company Pertamina.
The oil leaking from the broken steel pipe caused a fire at a fishing boat and a ship carrying coal at its stern on Saturday.
Four people were confirmed killed earlier, and rescuers found another body of a missing person late on Wednesday.
Balikpapan city secretary Sayid Fadli said the waters offshore reeked like a gas station and the city on the island of Borneo was in its third day of a state of emergency following the weekend spill around Semayang Port.
“We have warned workers and residents around the bay to refrain from lighting cigarettes and make safety the priority,’’ Mr Fadli said.
The city has distributed masks, and more than 1,300 people have suffered breathing problems, nausea and vomiting.
Mr Suryana said the cause of the broken pipe was still being investigated, but local media cited Pertamina as saying the pipe had been dragged out of position so far it broke.
Togar MP Manurung, Pertamina’s Refinery Unit general manager, told the Jakarta Post that the pipe had been shut to prevent further leaks.
The firm was still trying to discern how much oil had spilled into the bay.
Sanggam Marihot, head of the Balikpapan Port Authority, said five oil booms have been deployed and collected the equivalent of more than 14,600 barrels of oil.
Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya said officials from the ministry were assessing the environmental damage.
The joint team responding to the emergency should prioritise residential areas for cleanup “due to the stench and other potential risks”, she said.