Concerns over impact of Orient Beach oil spill
Environmental concerns have been raised over oil that flowed onto East London’s Orient Beach last week.
While the spill has since been cleaned up, East London Museum Kevin Cole scientist has warned such incidents can be highly detrimental to the ecology of the area.
According to the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA), the spill was “accidental”.
TNPA spokesperson Nomsa Tshingila explained that a mixture of oil and a biodegradable degreaser had entered a storm water outlet at Orient Beach.
“The cleaning of the straddle carriers at the East London multipurpose terminal resulted in a mixture of oil and a biodegradable degreaser accidentally bypassing drain filters,” Tshingila said.
“The terminal appointed a specialist contractor to clean up the area in the presence of the department of environmental affairs,” Tshingila said.
Photographs supplied to the Dispatch show a dark substance flowing through a stormwater pipe onto the sand, forming a pool about 10m in length.
When the Dispatch visited the area on Saturday, much of the spill had been cleaned up, with remnants left on the sand near the shore.
“The cleanup is finished and the contaminated sand has been disposed at a landfill site through a process that is compliant to environmental regulations,” Tshingila said.
But Cole said there were dangers to having oil on beaches.
“Sandy beaches are sensitive coastal environments and host a number of smaller creatures living between the sand grains, such as worms and crustacea,” he said.
“The oil may further filtrate out in to the intertidal zone where fish and a multitude of invertebrates like crabs and sea shells live.
“The food web will be affected and this may be detrimental to larger species like birds feeding on these creatures.”
Tshingila said no contaminated water had reached the sea at Orient Beach and no aquatic life was endangered.
“As a control, the terminal will replace all drain oil filters to avoid a reoccurrence.”
Oil spills are dangerous and often fatal for marine animals, as was seen during the recent oil spill in Mauritius.
Fishers battled to save dozens of injured dolphins that washed ashore following the spill. At least 40 of the animals were found dead in a lagoon near the site of the oil spill by a Japanese bulk carrier which struck a coral reef.
The Mauritius Marine Conservation Society said 15km of coastline had been affected by the spill and that it had moved towards the Blue Bay Marine park, home to 38 types of coral and 78 species of fish.