PTTGC:Tar balls along eastern Thai coast have no ecological impacts

BANGKOK, August 21 (TNA) - PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (PTTGC) says that tar balls washed ashore on eastern Thai beaches have no ecological impacts. PTTGC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Anon Sirisaengtaksin made the explanation on Thursday, after the tar balls, believed to result from oil spills from a PTTGC pipeline off Rayong province in the Thai East on July 27, were washed ashore on the province's Suan Son Beach earlier in the day, following a similar incident on the nearby Klaeng Beach on Tuesday. Although the tar balls are believed to result from the use of dispersants to cope with the oil slick, Anon pointed out that the asphaltenes from collected black sand did not match those of the crude oil from Oman, which had spilled into the sea. Actually, Anon acknowledged, the samples contained the remains of planktons and the cause of the black sand had not yet to be established, but PTTGC has hired Australian experts to monitor impacts on water and land and the distribution of oily film and chemicals from the oil spill. According to the PTTGC CEO, his company has paid over 25 million baht in compensation for parties affected by the oil spill and the compensation is continuing. Staffs of the Marine Department and local villagers, meanwhile, collected the tar balls and handed them on to authorities in Rayong for tests and solutions, while locals demanded that PTTGC take responsibilities, as they fear that the tar balls can later reach the provincial Mae Pim Headland and the estuary of the Prasae River. (TNA)