EPA halts operations of Byco after oil spill ruins Mubarak Village-Churna Island coastal belt

Qazi Hassan | Ismail Sasoli Published October 25, 2018

Tar and oil are wreaking havoc on the entire stretch of coast from Mubarak Village to Churna Island. —Photo provided by author

The EPA officials, who visited the Byco installations, are yet to ascertain the actual cause of the oil spill. —Photo provided by author

The spill has turned the popular picnic location known for its blue-green water into a black mess. —Photo provided by author

Balochistan's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday ordered Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited (BPPL) to halt its single point mooring (SPM) operations after a stretch of the Sindh-Balochistan coastal belt became heavily polluted due to an oil spill reportedly from an underground pipeline.

A notification was issued in this regard by the provincial environment agency to BPPL warning that if SPM operations continue, severe damage would be inflicted on marine life.

Spillage of tar and oil has wreaked havoc on the entire stretch of the coast from Mubarak Village to Churna Island and a strong stench permeates the area, local residents and fishermen told DawnNewsTV.

Issuing a statement in this regard, the Byco spokesperson said, "No leak or loss of containment has taken place from any of our installations."

Moreover, EPA officials who visited the Byco installations, are yet to ascertain the actual cause of the oil spill, the company said.

Earlier in the day, Mubarak Village counsellor Sarfaraz Haroon complained that the spill has turned the popular picnic location known for its blue-green water into a black mess.

He urged the government to take notice of the matter and regretted that the incident was not the first to threaten the local economy, as many such episodes had occurred previously.

"If the government does not take the matter seriously, sea life will be completely destroyed [in the area]," he said, underscoring the need for immediate action.

Haroon said that turtles, dolphins, whales, and other marine organisms were all on borrowed time unless remedial steps were taken.

Local fishermen demanded that the government takes strict disciplinary action against the owners of the company responsible for the spill.

In January this year, the Senate Standing Committee on Maritime Affairs was briefed regarding the rising pollution levels in the sea.

The director general of ports and shipping, Asad Chandna, had told the committee that 450 to 500 million gallons of raw sewage were being discharged daily directly into the sea without any solution in sight to stop the pollution.

Clarification: The suspension of operations was ordered by BEPA for Byco’s Single Point Mooring (SPM) facility.

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Comments (19) Closed

M. Saeed

Oct 25, 2018 08:13pm

Who owns the underground pipeline? The owner must be disciplined seriously and asked to repair the leakage earliest, or face serious consequences.

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Shadmehr Mehrian

Oct 25, 2018 08:29pm

The government should close the company until further notice.

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The Last Picture Show

Oct 25, 2018 08:49pm

The owners should be sued by the government for the full scale clean up of the beaches and compensation for coastal fishermen. Pakistan cannot turn it's back on the destruction of its environment. Put this company into bankruptcy and allow some other group to run it.

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Rizwan

Oct 25, 2018 09:28pm

This is a serious issue. No complacent attitude Mr. Counselor. Escalate. No need to just request. Pls we need to safeguard our National assets.

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Shehz

Oct 25, 2018 09:46pm

They should also pay the local fishermen for lost earnings, as well as Baluchistan; as for years now no one would want to import seafood from Pakistan.

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Karachitee

Oct 25, 2018 10:07pm

My beautiful charna island ....that's all I can say.

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Foreign Observer

Oct 25, 2018 11:09pm

These companies should pay for the cleanup and rehab of displaced citizens.

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Javed

Oct 25, 2018 11:22pm

Unbelievable government is doing anything about it. This company should be fine in billions of rupees plus cleaning. Where is EPA? They are sleeping

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Shaik

Oct 26, 2018 12:08am

Byco is jointly owned by Aamir Abbasi group and Abraaj. More bad news for Abraaj it seems. The pipeline connects Pakistans only offshore single buoy mooring with the Byco/Abraaj refinery. Its around 10-15 km long. Ships offload crude oil etc at the mooring which is then pumped to the refinery via the pipeline. Environmental concerns were raised earlier as well by the local fishermen. If indeed the pipeline has leaked then the issue must be fully investigated and measures taken to avoid such mishaps in future.

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SAMEER

Oct 26, 2018 02:15am

make haste. Clean up takes priority. Then we can grab who ever is responsible.

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Akbar Baloch

Oct 26, 2018 04:02am

They must be fined heavily for this disaster and must compensate people where are effected.

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Najum

Oct 26, 2018 06:43am

Abraaj is insolvent. The owner Arif Naqvi is out of Dubai. They're looking for buyers. - Bloomberg.

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Mak

Oct 26, 2018 07:07am

@M. Saeed . Serious consequences in this country !! Seriously .

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Syed Imam

Oct 26, 2018 07:47am

Pointing fingers would not help with the situation. First thing first, EPA should make effort to contained the spill before it becomes a major disaster. I don't know how big is the area that is impacted. Several technologies exist to contain and cleanup the petroleum spills. It might take weeks and months. Oil degrading bacteria should be sprayed to start the oil degradation immediately and super absorbent liners be used for containment so the oil doesn't spread. Since oil is lighter than water it will mostly float on the top and there are equipments that will suck the oil from the top of the water. Are there any experts in Pakistan capable of handling such a disaster. If not, then we should develop an oil spill emergency response team and equipped them.

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tariq ahmad

Oct 26, 2018 08:55am

it was a matter of time, and it happened.byco and its owners, incidentally Abraaj is one of them, and the abbasis are known not to play by the rules should be brought before the courts for wrecking this misery on the people. wherea te the offical of the gop, who cleared the undersea pipeline from the spm and they should be investigated.

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Aijaz Machiara

Oct 26, 2018 09:34am

Heavy fine must be imposed and cost of cleaning the area must be recovered from BYCO.Their operation should stop until fine is recovered and area is cleaned.

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Mahmood Ali

Oct 26, 2018 11:09am

Sir, the main source of pollution on the entire coast of Sindh, is the untreated sewerage flowing into arabian sea through Lyari river. Anyone interested to see, the cause , may visit the bridge over lyari, at a distance of about 2 km from Wazir mansion, would be overwhelmed by the cause and effects. I recall an event about 25 years back, when a Russian team was visiting karachi and the scribe was appointed to conduct them, they questioned me " why is the water within the port area and also at outer roads was blackish in color" . Obviously I had no answer as it would have given them a very bad impression about our environmental management. It can be said with conviction, that the pollution around our coast as well at Churna Island is the result of the untreated sewerage flowing into sea. Unfortunately, past governments did nothing to address this problem.????

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Humail

Oct 27, 2018 12:23am

There is a Refinery pipeline which is poorly designed and keeps leaking. Refinery does not have the capability to repair the line if it is damaged.

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Mehdi

Nov 02, 2018 07:36pm

I sincerely hope that G20 nations should use common sense by experiencing weather of mass distraction, ecological crisis of toxic global atmosphere , the earth and all it’s life is in stress because of ignorance and lack of leadership.The ecological system of balance and chemistry of nature is in stress due to toxic water, toxic medical waste, toxic metals and toxic gases. Human life is based on balance and the pressure of gravity which is losing pressure due to temperature change.

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