[Coral-List] Philippine oil spill

[John Hocevar]

Greetings -

For those of you who are tracking the oil spill in the Philippines, I've 
included a joint press release issued today by Greenpeace and the Philippine 
Coast Guard.  The contacts listed on the release may be of use to people who 
are either looking for up to date information on the spill's impacts or who 
may be able to offer expert assistance.

All the Best,

John Hocevar
Oceans Specialist
Greenpeace USA
Office: 512 454-6140
Cel: 512 577-3868

*Greenpeace ship to assist Philippine Coast Guard to tackle oil spill *

Manila, 18 August 2006 - Greenpeace ship MY Esperanza will sail towards
Guimaras Strait this evening to join the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)
fleet working to contain and clean-up the Philippines largest ever oil
spill in Philippine history.

Under an agreement with the PCG and other groups, the Esperanza and its
crew will conduct a joint visual survey with the PCG at the southeastern
tip of Guimaras Island, the worst-hit area where a protected marine
sanctuary has been badly devastated. The MY Esperanza will also
transport clean-up and containment equipment to PCG units on the ground,
as well as relief goods donated by ABS-CBN Foundation to affected
communities.

The Greenpeace ship and crew will also work with scientists and other
marine/ecology experts to undertake impact assessment and determine the
damage caused by the oil spill to important marine sanctuaries and
coastal ecosystems in the area.

"The Philippine Coast Guard is enlisting Greenpeace in this short but
vital impacts assessment work," said Commander Joseph M. Coyme of the
Philippine Coast Guard."The information that Greenpeace and their
partner scientists provide will give us solid basis in continuing our
oil spill containment and mitigation work."

"Our main concern is how the government can effectively mitigate the
impacts of this disaster to the marine environment and livelihoods of
people. It will take years to clean up and rehabilitate affected areas
and communities," said Von Hernandez, Campaign Director of Greenpeace
Southeast Asia. "In this regard, we reiterate our call on the government
to make Petron and its partners accountable for all the costs associated
with this disaster."

The Esperanza is in the Philippines on the latest leg of her global
Defending Our Oceans expedition to highlight the wonders and the
environmental threats to the world's oceans and to campaign for the
establishment of marine reserves. Scientists recognize the Philippine
archipelago as the world's centre of marine biodiversity, but is also
the most highly threatened, citing the danger of mass extinction in a
scale similar to that of the destruction of the Brazilian rainforests.

On Friday, August 11, the Petron-chartered single hull vessel sank in
Guimaras Strait, spilling 2.1 million litres of fuel oil and causing a
huge slick, which Greenpeace characterized as an ecological time bomb
that can cause long-term and possible irreversible damage to the
environment and livelihoods of people.

Greenpeace is an independent, campaigning organisation, which uses
non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental
problems, and to force solutions essential to a green and peaceful future.

Sign up as an Ocean Defender at oceans.greenpeace.org

*For more information:*
Commander Joseph M. Coyme, Spokesperson of Task Force Guimaras Oil
Spill, Philippine Coast Guard, +63 906 3788630
Von Hernandez, Greenpeace Southeast Asia Campaign Director, +63 917 526
3050.
Arthur Jones Dionio, Regional Media Campaigner, +63 921 5615305
Isabel Leal, Greenpeace Internacional Media Officer (in Amsterdam), +31
20 718 2051

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