No sign of oil at Sentosa beaches, waters near desalination plants
Sentosa’s beaches have not been affected by an oil leak from a Shell pipeline between Bukom Island and Bukom Kecil on Oct 20 morning.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, a Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) spokesperson said there are currently no signs of oil and smell at all its beaches.
The waters of Tanjong Beach, Palawan Beach and Siloso Beach also remain open, and beachgoers can continue to use the beaches for water activities, the spokesperson added.
But as a precautionary measure, oil absorbent booms have been deployed around Tanjong Beach, Palawan Beach, Siloso Beach, Sentosa Golf Club, ONE°15 Marina Club and Sentosa Cove, he added.
“We are monitoring the situation closely with relevant agencies and will provide updates on our Facebook page and website in due course,” said the spokesperson.
Meanwhile, national water agency PUB said that as at Oct 21, no oil has been detected near the Marina East Desalination Plant and Jurong Island Desalination Plant, which are closest to the location of the oil leak.
“Seawater quality readings remain normal and the plants’ operations are not affected,” said PUB in a Facebook post, adding that it is closely monitoring the seawater intakes at the desalination plants.
The agency has also deployed oil containment booms across the Marina Barrage, which separates the sea from Marina Reservoir, as a precautionary measure.
The oil started leaking at around 5.30am on Oct 20 from a land-based pipeline belonging to British petrochemical giant Shell, said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
MPA was alerted to the incident more than seven hours later at about 1pm.
The leak was stopped at about 3pm, a Shell spokesperson said, adding that the oil “spilt into a holding area but some overflowed” into the water channel between Bukom Island and Bukom Kecil.
The company is still assessing the total volume spilt. It added that that it has activated emergency response specialists to help manage the situation.
MPA, its contractor Singapore Salvage Engineers, and Shell have deployed boats to clean up the oil.
Also, Shell has placed containment booms off the site of the leak, while MPA has activated its drones and satellite capabilities to track the oil.
On Oct 20, the National Parks Board said it has not observed any oil in the waters off Sisters’ Islands Marine Park and Labrador Nature Reserve as at 6pm on Oct 20.
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