KARACHI, Aug 18: Concentration of the oil content in the water reaching the shore was gradually increasing due to the effects of the oil spillage from the grounded Tasman Spirit, said analysts on Monday.

According to scientists and environmentalists, despite the passage of four days the air and water quality was not good enough for human and marine life. They said the schools, and also the access roads to the beach, should be opened only after a comprehensive evaluation.

It was learnt that the SEPA teams — which had been conducting a survey of seawater at about eight points in the area near the Seaview Township, Shirin Jinnah Colony, NIO, China Town and the McDonald’s restaurant — observed an increase in the pollution in seawater.

Due to wind pressure and the direction of the waves, the crude oil spilt by the Greek-registered sea was reaching the shore, particularly near the Seaview Township, a person involved in the SEPA monitoring exercise said.

Sources said the fisheries authorities had decided to have a detailed assessment of water done in the fishing zone. Collection of water samples from the deep sea would begin on Tuesday for a detailed scientific analysis as there were reports that crude oil had contaminated even the water in the fishing zone and so there were chances of damage to marine life.

Experts are also discussing the impact of the pungent air, which contains hydrocarbons, to which the residents near the coast have been exposed for a week. Dawn was told that hydrocarbons were reportedly higher in concentration in the air near the DHA, while on the Clifton side the air quality was improving due to the mixing of dispersant and other chemicals through tugs and by air spray.

Despite repeated efforts, an official figure about the total quantity of the spillage is still not available.

While port authorities or salvagers are playing it to their chest or have simply not been able to calculate the quantity, it is feared that up to 12,000 tons of oil has been spilt by the Tasman Spirit, which had started leaking soon after being grounded on July 27.

Experts are of the view that long exposure to the polluted air in the affected localities could cause serious health problems, including skin and respiratory diseases. It would not be wise to open the closed roads and schools in the area unless the hydrocarbon content was reduced considerably, they added.

In the meantime, the authorities carrying out the beach cleaning exercise have made some changes in their strategy. In view of the opinion that continued cutting of the earth layer containing oil could destroy the natural sandy structure of the beach, the process of dredging or digging had been slowed down.

The salvagers and experts engaged in reducing the impact of the environmental hazards caused by the Tasman Spirit did not resort to aerial sprays of dispersant on Monday as they thought that it was not needed for the day.

Briefing the newsmen at his head office, the General Manager (Admn) of the KPT, Brig Iftikhar Arshad Khan, said that after a survey of the seawater, experts did not see any significant quantity of oil floating to warrant dispersion by chemicals dropping from the air. Oil was not spilling from the oil tanker but a survey would be conducted on Tuesday and if needed aerial spray would be carried out, he added.

He said the shifting of the earth affected by oil had also been slowed down on technical grounds while the use of graders and bulldozers was also minimized now.

A major cleaning and shifting of layers would be carried out only after the completion of the chemical process which is in progress with the help of aircraft, tugs, skimmers and booms, he stated.

Referring to the lighterage operation at Tasman Spirit, he said the oil transfer process which resumed on Sunday was continuing without any trouble. About 6,500 tons of crude oil had been shifted to the small tanker Fair Jolly which had now moved and anchored alongside Endeavour-II to deposit the extracted oil in it.

“First we are withdrawing oil from the forward portion of the grounded ship, while the whole ship is expected to be cleared of the oil in a span of 10 days during which different trips by Fair Jolly would be ensured,” he said, adding that obviously the ship had broken up and efforts would be made to pull it out of its existing position only when it is empty.

GOVERNOR: The issues concerning the grounded oil tanker Tasman Spirit and the ongoing salvage operation came under discussion at a high-level meeting chaired by Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad here on Monday, adds APP.