Company responsible for oil spill apologises, vows thorough probe
The refining company responsible for the crude oil leak in the Gulf of Thailand off the coast of Rayong last week issued an apology on Friday.
At a press conference held on Friday evening in Rayong, Star Petroleum Refining Pcl said it took full responsibility for its operations and was deeply saddened and disappointed by the impact of the spill.
The company vowed to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident to get to the root cause of the failure and said it would look to leverage external experts and cooperate with all related governments in the investigation process.
The statement, which did not address the issue of compensation to affected residents or other groups of people, said that all relevant organizations had confirmed that the oil slick in the Mae Ram Phueng area was no longer visible as of January 30.
Meanwhile, the Marine Department issued a joint statement reporting progress in oil stain disposal work which it is conducting jointly with the Royal Thai Navy and many civilian government agencies in charge of pollution control and mitigation of chemical hazards.
Deputy director-general Phoorithat Theerakulphisut said that the Marine Department will push for amendments to four departmental regulations to ensure better preventive measures for greater environmental safety while enforcing stricter measures against future violators.
A centre to accept complaints from the local public has been set up in addition to many other complaint-receiving channels, including the department's 1199 hotline centre, the Interior Ministry's central service at 1567, and the local one at 038-694-007, while the company's centre can be reached at 081-570-1987.
