17 days of living anxiously

Most are now living with anxiety about their future and fears of possible environmental problems caused by oil contamination of local soil and water supplies.

“I am worried that the water in the canal that has supplied my 14-rai morning glory farm for 30 years will be contaminated by oil from the exploration site,” said 65-year-old Pairath Laoharungpisith, whose farm is located behind the site.

Known as Petroleum Exploration Project Location TW-1X, the site is located on 7 rai on Buddha Mondhol 2 Road in Thawi Watthana district.

British firm Mitra Energy Limited was granted a concession to explore for oil in the area. The company began drilling a hole 16 inches (40 cms) wide and 2.5 kilometres deep on March 9. It was expected to take about 20 days to determine if there’s a viable source of oil in the area. 

The Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP)’s experts have approved the company’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) report.

The panel also asked the company to strictly control the environmental impacts on people living around the site, such as air pollution, noise pollution and contamination of the ground and water resources by leaking oil.

Meanwhile, Mineral Fuels Department director-general Songpope Polachan said the company will give the land back to the department and seal the drilling hole with cement if there are no oil resources found. He admitted that there was only a 10-per-cent chance of finding oil.

If the company finds oil, it will have to complete a series of further EIAs before establishing a permanent drilling station, as the area is surrounded by farms and residential communities.

“They [company representatives] did not tell me about the possible environmental impact on my morning glory farm,” Pairath said.

He earns about Bt70,000 every 25 days selling morning glory to local markets.

“I am happy that Thailand has its own oil resources, but I will absolutely file a complaint to ask for compensation if there is any environmental impact on my farm,” he said.

So far, no noise pollution or environmental contamination has occurred during the oil exploration, he added.

But an 80-year-old retired official, Phonchit Deeyeun, whose house is located 400 metres from the site, said he was not affected very much by the noise pollution caused by the round-the-clock drilling.

He said no representatives from the company had discussed with him the possible impacts on local residents.

“I was surprised to find out that they were exploring near my home. I don’t understand why the relevant agencies allowed the company to drill for oil in the middle of the city, where there are many communities,” he said.

Phonchit and his family are starting to think about their future if the company does find oil.

 “I will move to another place if the company can offer satisfactory compensation,” he said.

Lah Champpe, 48, whose noodle restaurant is located opposite the exploration site, said the company invited her to a meeting last month.

A group of the company’s experts explained to her about the possible environmental impact of the operation. About 50 people living around the site were invited to join the meeting, she said.

 “They showed us a video presentation talking about the possible environmental impact of drilling for oil, such as the spread of dust and noise pollution. But so far, I have not been affected,” she said.

Previously, another group of residents of Thawi Watthana district filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court against the Mineral Fuels Department seeking to stop the oil exploration. They were worried about the environmental impact.

A digital signboard in front of the exploration yesterday showed that the noise level was measured at 68.3 decibels while the safe level was 70 decibels. The amount of fine dust was measured at 0.104 milligrams per cubic metre, while the safe level was 0.330 milligrams per cubic metre. The level of PM10 (fine dust particles measuring 10 micrometers or less) was 0.047 milligrams per cubic metre, while the safe level was 0.120 milligrams per cubic metre.