Dead fish surface off Raffles Marina after drop in water quality due to Tuas chemical facility fire

SINGAPORE - Dead fish were found floating in the sea off Raffles Marina after a drop in water quality due to

a blaze in a chemical storage facility in Tuas.

In photographs on a Facebook page called Complaint Singapore Unlimited, which were first shared on Wednesday, the waters off the marina appear black or brown.

Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao on Friday published photos showing large numbers of dead fish in the waters off Raffles Marina, a country club in Tuas West Drive. Workers are seen cleaning up.

In response to media queries, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said it is analysing samples of “pungent brown water” in a canal near Tuas West Drive, which discharges into the sea.

The source of the brown water has been traced to run-off waters from fighting a fire in the area at 132 Pioneer Road on Wednesday morning, NEA added.

The fire that wrecked an industrial building owned by chemical wholesaler Megachem was brought under control about four hours after the Singapore Civil Defence Force was notified at 2am.

Megachem sells and distributes speciality chemicals to companies in the oil and gas, semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries.

A Raffles Marina spokesman said the club alerted the authorities about an oil slick in its waters after noticing it at about 8am on Wednesday.

Most of the oil slick was cleaned up by the authorities and the club used chemical dispersants to clean the area around the marina, she added.

On Thursday morning, the dead fish appeared, along with a lingering chemical odour, she said. By Friday afternoon, nearly all the fish and oil slick around the marina were cleared, she added. The club was unable to determine the total cost of the clean-up at that time as it was still being carried out.

Raffles Marina has used about 650 litres of chemicals so far to clean the marina, Zaobao reported.

A Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) spokesman said two patrol craft were deployed to clean up oil patches near Raffles Marina and, since then, no further patches have been seen.

Vessel traffic in the area remains unaffected, the spokesman added.

NEA said it will monitor the water quality in the canal for the next few days.

Mr Wade Pearce, who founded the Singapore Marine Guide platform for the leisure marine and boating industry, called the incident “absolutely disastrous to the boating community”.

He said: “At present, everything in the water is dying or dead, (there is an) unbearable smell, fishing charters cancelling, boats deciding to leave the marina or not arrive.

“The potential long-term impact is unknown until the chemical reports come back, but every part of the boat should be inspected as the chemical may damage the engine, generator, air-con, water maker, paint, even the fibreglass.”

If the chemical is harmful, he estimated that thousands would need to be spent by owners whose boats are berthed in Raffles Marina.

Ms Sue Ye, founder of non-profit group Marine Stewards, said members had alerted the group to the impact of the incident.

She said: “A lot of dead fish had floated to the surface after the incident. The pollution would affect wildlife in the area, including fish, turtles, other marine animals, as well as animals up the food chain.

“Fishing activities would be affected as well, as anglers would likely avoid the polluted areas, where the fish may be sick.”

Mr Kua Kay Yaw, former chairman of the marine conservation group in Nature Society (Singapore), said the floating brown fluid in photos could be petrochemical residue resulting from the fire.

“Oily chemicals can also prevent oxygen from dissolving in water, thus reducing the available oxygen for marine life, while others can coat the gills of the fish, resulting in suffocation,” he said.

Mr Kua also recommended that fire emergency response plans include procedures for containing chemicals to prevent any impact to the marine environment in the future.

National water agency PUB said operations at the desalination plants in the area have not been affected by the discharge.

“We have not detected abnormalities in the seawater intake since the fire,” said PUB.

The Straits Times has contacted Megachem for comment.