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Monday, June 7, 2010

Tanah Merah CleanUp - 05June2010

tanah merah singapore
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Saturday 05 June2010 - a motley crew of volunteers met, many meeting each other for the first time, to do what they could for a troubled shore...covered with crude oil from over the past weekend. The call for volunteers was made via Facebook merely 24 hours before and 19 volunteers responded all eager to help do their bit to help protect and conserve a quiet secluded Singapore shore long since reclaimed from the sea.

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Initial efforts were hampered by rain and lightning and the Team had to wait out the weather for about an hour. Once the thunder had rumbled on and the lightning was distant enough, the team gleefully made their way to shore in the rain which eventually gave way to a light drizzle. A cool strong wind made everyone feel the chill. The plus point of the chilly wind was that the strong smell of

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the crude oil on the shore was partly replaced with fresh sea air making the necessary breathing somewhat tolerable.

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ML, an NUS grad student uses her umbrella for shelter whilst picking up oil-soiled trash from an oil soaked shore.

The trash bags fluttering in the wind...it took a few moments to get used to the wind's effect on opened trash bags which wanted to fly away from their duty... but the wind was quickly conquered with a few handfuls of readily available trash on the shore. Orientated into the wind at the right angle, one could keep the bag open with one hand whilst throwing in trash with the other.

Focusing on material coated with crude oil such as plastic bottles, plastic bags, styrofoam, and other light material, 85 bags worth of flotsam was collected in about 2 hours from about 500m of shore not forgetting two spades and some soiled absorbent booms left behind by CleanUp contract workers from earlier in the week when the first slick patch hit the Tanah Merah coast.

There was a good amount of plastic bags on the lower shore which were covered with crude oil and these had turned a dark brown. What was unexpected was that these plastic bags tore like water-soaked paper upon being pulled from the sand....disturbing signs that the crude oil was eating away at the plastic slowly dissolving what would normally not degrade for eons. Disturbing because the dissolved plastic would be seeping into the ecosystem. As to where it would all end up is anyone's guess but the food chain would definitely pick some of the material.

It seems that no one had expected a second patch to wash ashore. Despite satellite imagery and patrol boats, no one knew of (or if they knew, was bothered by) the second slick patch ... until it was already almost on the shore.

Why were preventive measures not taken to contain this second slick before it reached the Tanah Merah shore?



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Two volunteer RJC students do their bit buffetted by the strong cold wind and rain.

Crude oil soaked plastic bags lying on the lower shore tore readily upon a slight pull indicating that the crude oil was eating away at the plastic bags.....which could only mean that the plastic was being dissolved away into the ecosystem. Not a good thing.

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AK(at right), an exchange student from the US helping out at Tanah Merah with a friend, PCF.

Despite the 85 bags (and not forgetting the numerous bags cleared by the contract workers from the National Environment Agency from the far end of the same shore), only a small portion of the visible shoreline was cleaned up. The effects of the CleanUp can be said to have a negligible effect on the overall condition of the shore as the now cake-like sand-tar mixture will likely continue to ooze oil for a very long time to come.


The clip below shows the far end of the same shore the next day on Sunday 06June2010 with accumulations of flotsam, a huge quantity of it plastic. Whilst the natural woody material will biodegrade, the plastic will not and will continue to cover the shore or get eventually pulled out by the tides to journey to other far shores in a neverending repeating tour.


Where does all this plastic come from?

The second slick which affected the Tanah Merah shore was not-prepared for and it stuck to all the available surfaces such as the seawall, sandy shore and the various flotsam on the shore. Whilst the flotsam can be removed, the crude oil which had long since soaked into the sand and formed chocolate-cake like patches looks set to persist for a very long time unless the same is dug out. Meanwhile, a visible oily sheen can be seen at each low tide accumulating in the lagoon formed by the breakwater. Perhaps time and tide will clear the oil away in due course.
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