Cowshed Cowboy wrote: ↑Sun Jan 30, 2022 11:09 am I worked in the industry down there and SPRC were one of our biggest clients. i personally wouldn't dip my toes in the water anywhere in that area in normal times due to the chemical waste that finds its way into the sea from the major plants, the negative health effects are well documented, birth defects etc. I have no doubt the scale of this incident is being low balled at this stage, as is the way.

Started late on Tuesday and was brought under control a day later after spilling an estimated 50,000 litres (13,209 gallons)

A massive oil spill of 400,000 litres off the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong on Tuesday night

https://www.nationthailand.com/program/40011583

That's some lowballing! I wonder what the real number is?

The official message today is that the primary damage from the slick was not as extensive as feared (ie. was overestimated), it was contained to Rayong area, and has now been dealt with by the authorities.

Emergency centre to close as slick dissipates
700 affected locals complain about spill
published : 3 Feb 2022 at 09:10
writer: Apinya Wipatayotin and Wassana Nanuam
RAYONG: Authorities will close an emergency centre after oil sludge was cleared from Mae Ramphueng Beach and the sea off the beachfront of this eastern province.

A committee of state agencies, tourism operators, beach vendors, and environmental groups will be set up to inspect the area and assess the situation when the tide is on the ebb to ensure there is no more oil.

All going well, the emergency centre overseeing the clean-up operation will then be closed.

The leak from the pipeline owned by Star Petroleum Refining Plc, which was first detected last Tuesday, polluted Mae Ramphueng Beach on mainland Rayong.

Provincial authorities and various agencies such as the 1st Naval Area command removed the slick.

However, authorities will continue to be on standby to monitor any oil that may be lingering.

Thawat Jenkarn, head of the Khao Laem Ya-Koh Samet Marine National Park, said divers sent to examine Prao Bay and the marine national park found that seagrass, coral reef and marine life were safe from the oil.

Rear Adm Apichart Woraphamorn, the Royal Thai Navy's deputy spokesman, said about 80,000 litres of dispersants were approved for the clean-up operation.

No sludge was found on the shoreline, though the oil which was broken down by the dispersants into small droplets may linger on the sea's surface and be washed ashore, said Rear Adm Apichart.

Sunthorn Rianphumkarnkit, Rayong's public health doctor, said health officials have made a random inspection of seafood at several markets in Rayong and no oil contamination was found.

Deputy Rayong governor Anant Nakniyom on Wednesday met with those residents affected by the oil slick at a complaints centre that had been set up near the beach.
About 700 people have filed complaints seeking help and more are expected, Mr Anant said.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... dissipates

400,000 litres of oil and now 80,000 litres of "dispersants", to turn the oil into small droplets that allow it to mix with the water and sink to the sea bed.

Fish and Chips anyone?

Doc67 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 03, 2022 12:31 pm 400,000 litres of oil and now 80,000 litres of "dispersants", to turn the oil into small droplets that allow it to mix with the water and sink to the sea bed.

Fish and Chips anyone?

Self seasoned.

Cowshed Cowboy wrote: ↑Thu Feb 03, 2022 3:16 am

Agree with you broadly on the issue, no idea about your views or posts elsewhere, HOWEVER " When I look at countries like Cambodia today, I wish it could still be more like it was decades ago " Were you here then and where else were the good places that didn't deserve to progress, My experience it was it was the dirt poorest place I've ever encountered and not a place that could possibly remain the same for the benefit of the younger generation.

Kabul is still the go to place if you want to go back in time for that authentic no future undeveloped experience.

You’re 100% right. I realize now that sentence didn’t read the way I intended it to.
As for my views and posts elsewhere, it’s not so much on this forum that I get accused of not caring, but in my day-to-day life, when I brush off disasters like this as the cost of 8 billion people trying to live a comfortable life with enough food to eat, and access to the same life-changing technologies that the next guy has.

All I meant, is that I personally (in theory) would prefer if the world was pushed back into a more traditional lifestyle, but I realize that it’s a fantasy, and that with today’s population, along with a lack of modern industrial processes, we’d all be miserable and starving.
A lot of people don’t seem to realize that, and would just shut these polluting industries down altogether if they could, without realizing that the consequences would be far worse than the occasional oil spill, or even (in my opinion) the problems arising from climate change.

To answer your question: No, I wasn’t in Cambodia decades ago. I haven’t even been there long enough to have seen the really dirt poor days that you refer to, and that isn’t what I’d like to see it go back to.
As I said, it’s a fantasy of living a traditional lifestyle without all of the modern conveniences that people can’t seem to live without today. Nothing more.

The fact is, that fossil fuels (and industrial processes as a whole) have given us the way of life that we are used to today, and have been a huge part of the rapidly improving living conditions in places like SEA, that were very poor only a few decades ago.

Especially nitrates. They are mostly derived from oil and our whole agriculture is utterly dependent on them except organics.
One of the attractive aspects of a hydrogen fuel cycle is the ability to produce ammonia from it efficiently.

nemo wrote: ↑Thu Feb 03, 2022 3:47 pm

The fact is, that fossil fuels (and industrial processes as a whole) have given us the way of life that we are used to today, and have been a huge part of the rapidly improving living conditions in places like SEA, that were very poor only a few decades ago.

Especially nitrates. They are mostly derived from oil and our whole agriculture is utterly dependent on them except organics.
One of the attractive aspects of a hydrogen fuel cycle is the ability to produce ammonia from it efficiently.

Organics still rely on oil in its life cycle. It’s never be totally independent.

nemo wrote: ↑Thu Feb 03, 2022 3:47 pm Especially nitrates. They are mostly derived from oil and our whole agriculture is utterly dependent on them except organics.
One of the attractive aspects of a hydrogen fuel cycle is the ability to produce ammonia from it efficiently.

Interesting. I was under the impression that hydrogen wasn’t really viable unless we could come up with a clean way of producing the electricity needed to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen, but I’m going on older info.

I think it’s a shame that people have such an irrational fear of nuclear power. We don’t have to build our reactors like the one at Chernobyl anymore, but I’m sure someone smarter than me could tell me why it isn’t the solution either.

Ryan754326 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 03, 2022 4:04 pm

nemo wrote: ↑Thu Feb 03, 2022 3:47 pm Especially nitrates. They are mostly derived from oil and our whole agriculture is utterly dependent on them except organics.
One of the attractive aspects of a hydrogen fuel cycle is the ability to produce ammonia from it efficiently.

Interesting. I was under the impression that hydrogen wasn’t really viable unless we could come up with a clean way of producing the electricity needed to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen, but I’m going on older info.

I think it’s a shame that people have such an irrational fear of nuclear power. We don’t have to build our reactors like the one at Chernobyl anymore, but I’m sure someone smarter than me could tell me why it isn’t the solution either.

The majority of hydrogen is produced by using fossil fuels. The others you have to use renewable energy (wind, solar, geo thermal etc) otherwise it gets expensive and pointless.
Then there’s the transportation - even if the trucks are hydrogen powered (is that even possible?) they add to congestion. There’s just not the infrastructure or storage facilities, which is another issue - would you want a huge bomb in your neighborhood?

That and the supposed “bio-degradable” and wind power industries are big money earners with lots of government subsidies and incentives.

UPDATE
Thai villagers take refiner Star Petroleum to court over oil spill
Reuters

BANGKOK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Thai villagers and small business-owners have filed lawsuits for damages worth 5 billion baht ($152.72 million) against Star Petroleum Refining (SPRC) (SPRC.BK), PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC.BK) and government agencies over an oil spill, a law firm representing the complainants said on Tuesday.

The lawsuits allege a lack of maintenance of an underwater oil pipeline owned by Star Petroleum, which last January leaked an estimated 50,000 litres (13,209 gallons) of oil into the ocean, said Rising Sun law firm, which is representing the group of 837 complainants.

Some of the oil reached the shoreline of the eastern province of Rayong, causing damage to the local environment and tourism.
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Rising Sun law firm said the lawsuits also included complaints over failure to deal with the leak and excessive use of dispersant to clean up the water. Separate suits were filed against Thai government agencies to speed up rehabilitation of the Rayong ecosystem and pressure Star Petroleum Refining and PTT Global Chemical to set up a rehabilitation fund for villagers worth 5 billion baht.

Star Petroleum said in an e-mail that it has provided 337 million baht in relief for 12,361 people so far and that it could not comment legal cases.

PTT Global Chemical did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Chevron, which holds a 60.56% stake in Star Petroleum, declined to comment.
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-paci ... 023-01-24/