FROM ITES News on OIL FIRE (fwd)
Coral Health and Monitoring Program
coral at coral.AOML.ERL.GOV
Fri Oct 20 22:05:41 EDT 1995
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 2 Nov 95 15:22:55 +0000
From: support at lanka.gn.apc.org
To: coral at coral
Subject: FROM ITES News on OIL FIRE
Oil installation fires at Colombo, Sri Lanka
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Terrorists attacked the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation refinery and oil
storage installations in Colombo in the early hours of October 20th
causing several deaths and massive fires in the storage areas. Fires of
this magnitude had not taken place in Sri Lanka previously and the
assistance of fire-fighters with experience in fighting oil fires had to be
obtained from India.
The fires were accompanied by the deposition of oil which was
reported by the media to have formed layers around 0.5 metres thick in
some places. Some of the oil passed by way of canals and a major
river to the sea. Other immediately visible impacts included those on
market gardens in nearby areas.
The Ceylon Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research (CISIR) has
issued a preliminary report on some aspects of the incident which may
be of environmental significance. Based on information supplied by
the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) the crude and refined
products presumed destroyed in a two day period were 39,000 tonnes
of crude oil, 35,000 tonnes of diesel and 5000 tonnes of kerosene.
Taking into account the sulphur contents of the oil products destroyed
it was estimated that the oxides of sulphur produced during the fires
could have been around 1690 tonnes (when calculated as sulphur
dioxide). As regards oxides of nitrogen (calculated as nitrogen dioxide)
the total produced could have been around 780 tonnes (including that
resulting from the reaction of gaseous nitrogen with oxygen at high
temperatures).
A significant proportion of these acidic oxides is expected to have
been returned to earth in the rain which accompanied the
conflagration.
This experience in Sri Lanka was followed by reports in the media a
few days later of an oil fire in Indonesia due to a refinery being struck
by lightning. These two incidents have caused further unease among
environmentalists in Sri Lanka regarding a proposal to locate a giant
refinery cum power plant near Hambantota on the south coast of Sri
Lanka. The project is proposed to be located not too far from
extremely wildlife-rich areas including feeding grounds of flamingos
and other waterfowl and beaches frequented by marine turtles for egg
laying. The Yala wildlife sanctuary is also located on the south coast
while some of the coral reefs of Sri Lanka may be eventually impacted
by oil.
An Environmental Impact Assesment for the proposed project is being
prepared by the developers,
Regional Cooperative Petroleum Refinery Co Inc., and will be opened
for public comment in due course.
Contributor:
Rohan H. Wickramasinghe,
November 01, 1995
Institute for Tropical Environmental Studies,
41 Flower Road,
Colombo 7,
Sri Lanka
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