Post Reporters
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has resolved not to accept the July 28 PTT Global Chemical Plc (PTYTGC) oil spill as a special case unless evidence of a criminal offence is found
DSI chief Tarit Pengdith Yesterday said the Customs Department had affirmed that PTTGC had accurately paid taxes for the crude oil it had spilled, so no traces of criminal offence had been found for the time being.
Mr Tarit met yesterday with 14 concerned bodief , including PTTGC and the customs Department.
The fact-finding committee that PTT Plc, the parent company of PTTGC , had set up was yet to come to any conclusions regarding the spill’s cause, Mr Tarit said.
Sorasak Saensombat , director-general of the Marine Department, yesterday said he was considering imposing more stringent security measures on the practice of offshore oil transfers.
The department would require oil companies to deploy an additional boat that would be responsible for watching out for signs of a spill during an offshore oil transfer, he said. Currently only one boat is required for this purpose.
The department would also require that a sufficient number of oil contain ment booms be laid around an oil transfer site, Mr Sorasak said
The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) reported yesterday that 70% of coral reef at Ao Phrao has started to bleach, although it could not be confirmed if the bleaching was caused by the spill. DMCR director general Noppol Srisuk said marine biologists conducted a survey of the reef’s condition on Tuesday and found some colonies were producing liquid substances, an early stage of coral bleaching.
Industry Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisarn said PTTGC will pay compensation to the first batch of about 120 small fishery business operators affected by the spill tomorrow. Each operator is expected to receive about 30,000 baht