[Coral-List] Oil spill reaches the shores of Bonaire

[Anouschka van de Ven]

Oil spill reaches the shores of Bonaire

On May 16, the port office was informed by the STINAPA of oil spills that
were washed on the east shores of Bonaire. Its origin appears to be an oil
leak that took place on Trinidad and Tobago on April 23. The Coast Guard,
the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment and the port offices of
Aruba and Curacao were immediately notified. At the same time, the
authorities in Bonaire and other Bonaire Public Body sections were informed
of the situation.
 
The Harbor Master, along with the Coast Guard, has taken action to
investigate the area from a plane and a cutter to see if there are oil
spills in the direction of Bonaire.
After consultation with the Rijkswaterstaat, it was learned that the oil
that has been in the sea for a month will change cohesion and form
tealballs. Tar balls are formed by crude oil affected by the seawater. They
are hard to see from above the sea surface because they just float below sea
level. 
 
The Bonairian Island Authority in the Portmaster and his team, Coast Guard
and STINAPA person will continue to monitor the situation in order to
respond appropriately. STINAPA has received the necessary materials to clean
the beaches. These include gloves, special protective clothing for the
volunteers, a piece of cloth to pick up the oil and forks so that the dirty
cloth is not touched. So far, it can be seen that the pieces of tar are
quite small. They are not larger than 15 cm. It is difficult to prevent more
oil spots from reaching our coast.
 
The Bonairian Island Authority calls on anyone to warn STINAPA or port
office when oil spills are seen in the sea on the coast of Bonaire. If you
want to report as a volunteer, you can contact STINAPA or the port office.
 
The port office, together with the STINAPA, investigated the coastlines and
found that the area from Sorobon to the Willemstoren (lighthouse) was
contaminated. The area is large, there are places where the pieces of tar
are far apart and there are places where they are closer to each other. This
means that cleaning will take a lot of time. The pieces of tar on the rocks
can be allowed to dry, but the pieces in the water and on the beach must be
removed. Cleanups are ongoing.

https://www.facebook.com/Bonaire.STINAPA/posts/1802672296416665

https://vimeo.com/219229638

Regards,
Anouschka van de Ven
Communications Coordinator

STINAPA Bonaire
Barcadera z/n
Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean
T: +599 - 717 8444

mail:communications at stinapa.org
www.stinapa.org
www.facebook.com/bonaire.stinapa


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