SINGAPORE: Swimming and water activities at East Coast Park and the Southern Islands may resume, after an advisory was lifted in the wake of an oil pipeline leakage last weekend.
In a Facebook post on Friday (Oct 25), the National Environment Agency (NEA) said that there have not been other oil sightings at sea and ashore since Sunday, when energy company Shell first reported the leak in its slop pipeline, NEA said.
“You can now swim and take part in water activities at the beaches of East Coast Park, Kusu, St John’s and Lazarus islands,” the agency added.
About 30 to 40 metric tonnes of “slop” – a mixture of oil and water – had leaked into the sea, said Shell on Monday.
NEA issued an advisory the same day, warning the public to avoid swimming and other primary contact water activities in the affected areas as a precautionary measure.
Oil spill containment measures were also activated after the leakage, which originated from Shell’s land-based pipeline between Bukom Island and Bukom Kecil.
On Tuesday, Singapore agencies said in a joint statement that the clean-up of oil in the channel between Pulau Bukom and Bukom Kechil was progressing and targeted to be completed in the “coming days”.
Shell, on its official website on Tuesday, said that the clean-up effort was progressing well.
“Most of the oil around Bukom has been cleaned up with only small patches of light sheens around Bukom island and Bukom Kechil remaining,” Shell had said.
Sheen is a thin layer of oil sitting on top of the water.
Shell also said that it had not received any new reports of oil sightings at sea and ashore since Sunday.
“We have deployed vessels and absorbent booms to remove any remnants of oil in the vicinity of Bukom,” Shell said in its statement.
It added that it will continue to work closely with relevant authorities on the clean-up efforts and continue to monitor the situation.
