2 East Coast Park beach sections reopen for water sports after oil spill, but swimming not advised

SINGAPORE - Sunseekers can now use the beach at two sections of East Coast Park that have reopened after being cordoned off for

cleanup in the wake of an oil spill

on June 14.

However, water activities at the reopened sections, areas B and E, should be confined to water sports such as kayaking and not swimming, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) in a statement on July 22.

It said: “While it is safe to use the beach, the public is advised not to swim or undertake primary contact water sports such as wakeboarding and stand-up paddling in the beach waters.”

It added that it will continue to monitor the water quality at the beach.

“Only when the water quality returns to normal and is stable can water activities fully resume,” it said.

Meanwhile, land-based activities at areas B and E can return to normal. NEA said bulk oil at East Coast Park’s land and sea areas have so far been successfully removed.

Booms have also been deployed in order to prevent further contamination, it added.

At areas B and E, trained personnel with special equipment removed oil from difficult-to-clean areas such as in the gaps and crevices of rock bunds – a type of embankment – and other structures, as well as oil trapped in sand.

At other parts of East Coast Park, cordoned areas remain in place and cleanup efforts are ongoing.

“This is an iterative cleaning process as oil that flows out from the cleaning of one site could pollute a new site or re-pollute another site,” said NEA.

On June 14, around 2.20pm, Netherlands-flagged dredging boat Vox Maxima hit Singapore-flagged bunker vessel Marine Honour, which was stationary, resulting in 400 tonnes of oil spilling.

The damaged cargo tank on Marine Honour – which was next to a container vessel berthed at Pasir Panjang Terminal – leaked oil into the sea.

Due to the tidal current, the oil landed along shorelines including those of Sentosa, Labrador Nature Reserve, the Southern Islands, Marina South Pier and East Coast Park.

The oil also

spread to the waters

off Malaysia’s southern coast, where about 1km of the shoreline in Pengerang in Johor state was affected.

Traces of oil were also found on the beaches at Sungai Rengit, a coastal town, and the nearby Teluk Ramunia. On July 1, Johor’s Health and Environment Committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said the

cleanup at the two locations was nearly completed

.

It also started cleanup work at a nearby island, Pulau Che Kamat, on July 1 after traces of oil sludge were found.