Progress of cleaning up palm stearin (with photos)

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The Government today (August 11) continued to clean up the palm stearin on the sea surface and at the beaches.

     From the inspections conducted today, gradual improvement in situation was observed. The oil content of water samples collected from beaches concerned also remained at a lower level. Having considered factors such as water quality safety and cleanup progress, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) announced this afternoon the reopening of five bathing beaches, namely Upper Cheung Sha Beach, Lower Cheung Sha Beach and Tong Fuk Beach in Islands District, as well as Middle Bay Beach and Turtle Cove Beach in Southern District. The government departments will continue to monitor the situation and enhance cleanup of palm stearin, with a view to reopening the remaining beaches concerned as soon as possible.

     On the other hand, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) did not find any mariculturist or ecologically sensitive areas being affected by the incident so far. No palm stearin was found at fish culture zones or in their vicinity today. The oil boom deployed at Lo Tik Wan fish culture zone kept preventing palm stearin from entering the fish culture zone. In addition, the amount of palm stearin found in the Cape D’Aguilar Marine Reserve, and the nesting site of Green Turtles in Sham Wan on Lamma Island has reduced substantially after the cleaning work in the past few days. The AFCD will continue to monitor the impact on the fishing industry and the marine environment, especially that of waters with important ecological value.

     Currently, the Marine Department (MD), the LCSD, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the AFCD and the Environmental Protection Department deployed around 300 staff members in total for conducting inspections and cleanup on a daily basis to tackle with this palm stearin leakage incident. As at 12 noon today, the government departments collected some 178 tonnes (178 000 kilograms) of palm stearin recovered on the sea surface and at the beaches, of which around half of it was scavenged from sea.

     In addition, the MD confirmed that the oil spill found at Castle Peak Bay Beach in Tuen Mun today was oil sheen of rainbow colour, instead of palm stearin. The MD has immediately deployed vessels and relevant personnel to clean it up.

Ends/Friday, August 11, 2017
Issued at HKT 21:05

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Photo

Lower Cheung Sha Beach on Lantau Island was reopened this afternoon (August 11) after being cleaned up.

Upper Cheung Sha Beach on Lantau Island was reopened this afternoon (August 11) after being cleaned up.

Middle Bay Beach in Southern District was reopened this afternoon (August 11) after being cleaned up.

Tong Fuk Beach on Lantau Island was reopened this afternoon (August 11) after being cleaned up.

Turtle Cove Beach in Southern District was reopened this afternoon (August 11) after being cleaned up.

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