One of the worst maritime disaster in the Philippines, the overturning of the Sulpicio Lines M/V Princess of the Stars could take an even much worser turn with the discovery of 10 Metric tons of the pesticide Endosulfan in it’s cargo hold. If the contents were released into the sea it could turn into an eco disaster for the Philippines’ fish and aquatic life.
The ship fell victim to the wrath of Typhoon Frank (international name: Fengshen) when it passed through the country late last week. The ship capsized under the rough sea’s and resulted in a large loss of life.
The pesticide is said to be in a 40 ft container van and if it were released into the sea, would devastate all aquatic life. Diving operations have been stopped upon discovery of the pesticide. The pesticide belonged to the Agricultural company Del Monte, who had warned the authorities of its presence in the ship’s hold. Questions arise now as to whether the ship had indeed have the proper permits to transport pesticides. According to this report, the Philippines has banned the use of endosulfan, or has this ban been lifted already?(Update: turns out that it is indeed still banned except for use in pineapple plantations, ugh, that’s the last time I’m eating pineapple from a Philippine multinational corp.)
According to an EPA report :
(Endosulfan) is a very persistent chemical which may stay in the environment for lengthy periods of time, particularly in acid media….[e]ndosulfan has relatively high potential to bioaccumulate in fish…Endosulfan can travel long distances from where it is used. [source]
Even more sad was that just last week in the TV show Sisid(to dive) in GMA. I learned from Howie Severino’s report that the Philippines had been classified as a Fish Epicenter for Biodiversity. Meaning that almost majority the of the world’s fishes are found in our corrals. With that, it could be safe to assume that if something were to endanger our corral systems it could have a profound effect on the global fish population.
The effect of Typhoon Frank on the Philippines is tremendous. Flooding that was never experienced before in parts of the country happened suddenly and caught a lot of people by surprise. The death toll has already passed the 500 mark with property damages already amounting to over P6 Billion. In a country that experiences about 20 typhoons are year on average, you could just calculate the total devastation that the year is expected to bring if these figures keep up.
They say that one of the bad effects of global warming is increased typhoon intensity. And the irony of that is that the Philippines isn’t even a major contributor to Global Warming, yet we have to have an equal share in the devastation.
Category: Eco Disaster
