PTT deserves a closer watch
The oil leak now devastating one beach and important offshore waters along the east coast has been one of the worst-managed disasters in recent memory. The failures to prevent the leak, manage the spill, contain the pollution and avoid the Koh Samet calamity represent a dreadful breakdown.
It was compounded by constant disinformation and misleading statements by those involved. The Royal Thai Navy and especially PTT Global Chemical Plc (PTTGC) must be called to account.
The disaster began early last Saturday. A tanker was pumping crude into a pipeline operated by PTTGC, a subsidiary of state-owned oil and gas giant PTT, about 20km off the Rayong coastline in the Gulf of Thailand.
The current story put out by PTTGC says the pipeline being used sprang a leak. Other accounts say the tanker’s hookup broke. Whatever the details, 50,000 litres of the thick, black sludge leaked into the sea before anyone could act to prevent the spill or cut it off.
On Monday, as photos began to be transmitted from Koh Samet, the public learned what a 50,000-litre spill of crude oil looked like. As the blanket of killer crude drifted towards Ao Phrao, the company and the navy misled the public and misdirected the spill itself. It underplayed the threat it posed, and the danger it would cause extensive pollution.
On Saturday, hours after the pipeline problem, PTTGC claimed a 200-metre boom would contain the slick and prevent spread. But the company knew this was false; it had already asked for help from the navy, the Marine Department and Oil Spill Response Limited of Singapore.
After that followed a string of false optimism, suspect statements and claims that were not just too good to be true, but actually proved untrue. Most of the statements were of the familiar ‘‘don’t worry, it’s under control’’ type that the public is used to hearing. The oil spill proved once again that people should be wary of such statements; they almost always are wrong.
PTT has invited strong environmental scrutiny, and now it should receive it. The Koh Samet spill was its second serious problem in four years. In 2009, off the west coast of Australia, the Montara spill lasted two and a half months, the Timor Sea was set ablaze and an entire massive oil rig burnt down. An Australian Commission of Inquiry concluded the cause was simple — PTT’s subsidiary failed to follow regulations.
While claims for damages in the current spill may be premature, they are also pertinent. In the Australian case, PTT refused to accept blame or pay compensation. It argued there was no proof of environmental damage. At Koh Samet, there is massive damage.
The government must now put PTT under permanent, outside scrutiny. The company by its actions and cavalier ‘‘no problem’’ attitude is acting contrary to the public good.
The state, as the owner of PTT, cannot also regulate and control the company.
Outside groups including civil society must be allowed to monitor PTT, to ensure it lives up to its stated concern for the environment and health of the public. Credibility once lost is difficult to regain. The government should also rethink new oil drilling schemes in the Gulf of Thailand and whether they are posing environmental threats to another paradise island, Koh Samui.
The Samet catastrophe has proven that this is a terrible idea. The locals have already fiercely opposed the plan. Their concerns are solid, and their voices must be heard.