By the estimate of one study, the transport pollution caused by the barging operation is “quite significant for nearly all materials, except for metals and tires” (Tan & Khoo, 2006: 249). The pollution comes from the waste materials that have to be transported to the landfill site, and the release of acidic gases from the marine transport systems that further cause seawater acidification (Tan & Khoo, 2006). The researchers suggest that these gases and the acidification threaten “the continued existence of various species of vegetation and aquatic life forms” (Tan & Khoo, 2006: 249), which are found around Singapore’s coastal area. Assuming that the marine transport systems relying on fossil fuels used today will remain relatively unchanged for the next two decades, then the damage to these various aquatic life forms from pollution would be sustained. This is because insofar as the barging operation goes, this operation has to remain ceaseless. The ceaseless nature of this operation means that even if efforts would be devoted to conserve or restore threatened aquatic life forms in the near future, these life forms will nonetheless remain exposed to a continuous and cumulative source of threat and damage.