Residents of Taen, S Korea, help in the clean-up of the region’s beaches following the oil spill caused by a tanker (below)Seoul: South Korean workers using skimmers and containment fences battled on Saturday to clean up the worst oil spill in the country’s history, as part of the slick hit the shore near a nature preserve on the west coast. A Hong Kong-registered tanker began leaking an estimated 10,500 tonnes of crude oil on Friday after a barge carrying a crane slammed into it while the tanker was anchored off Daesan port about 110 km southwest of Seoul.“A part of the slick reached the shores of Taean and on to the beaches. There are about 1,200 residents helping in the clean-up,” said Cheon Myeong-cheol, a Taean coast guard official.
The region is popular for its beaches and home to a national park. It is also an important rest stop for migratory birds. There has been no major impact yet on marine life where the first oil reached shore, according to the coast guard but that batch was only a small part of the entire spill.The largest slick was about 13 kms (8 miles) long and spreading in Mallipo Bay, about 90 km southwest of Seoul, a maritime ministry official said.“We’re installing oil-containment fences to prevent further inflow,” said Song Myeong-dal, head of the maritime ministry’s Information and Policy Monitoring team.The main slick is about a day or so away from hitting a west coast area that has marine farms and oyster beds, Song said.
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