Gujarat Pollution Control Board has got cracking into the mysterious crude oil spillage incident that has polluted the coasts of South Gujarat.
A team of GPCB has also been rushed to look into the Panna Mukta Tapti (PMT) western offshore operation. A leakage in a subsea oil evacuation pipeline system was observed about few days ago, said a senior official of GPCB. The field was producing about 40,000 barrels of crude per day.
The PMT oil fields are jointly operated by Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), Reliance Industries and BG India. ONGC holds 40% stake in these gas fields, while Reliance Industries and BG India own 30% each. Following the sub-sea leak, production at the three fields in western offshore was halted about a fortnight ago.
The state maritime regulator-Gujarat Maritime Board has ruled out the possibility of any ship or tanker and GPCB is now zeroing in on the possible pipeline or drilling site that could have been responsible for the crude oil spillage that has polluted the coasts of South Gujarat.
“Besides PMT, we are also looking into other fields in vicinity of the spillage area including Bombay High and other drilling sites,” the official said.
The oil spill was first noticed on August 1 by fishermen of Valsad district and the hazardous substance has dotted about 100 km coastal stretch from Navsari to Daman in Gujarat.
According to Sudhir Vasudeva, director (offshore), ONGC, "There had been leakage in the Panna-Mukta and Tapti field last month but as soon as it was found, the leakage was repaired. The production has been stopped since July 25. We are joint venture partners in PMT and we do not have any precise details. Also, if tar balls have to wash ashore, then it has to be a substantial leakage, whatever the source may be."
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He said that the leak could not be from Bombay High as none of ONGC owned oilfields or oil wells have not seen any leak on the west coast.
Principal Secretary, Forest and Environment, S K Nanda said they would be in a position to indicate the source of the spillage in a day’s time or so. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is in the process of submitting satellite images of the area.
“We have checked the vessels movements at Dahej and Hazira in the past 15 days and none of them was carrying any crude. Even the Coast Guard officials have confirmed that they have not seen oil spill at sea. Hence the leakage could be from pipeline or oil rig,” said Capt S C Mathur, chief nautical officer of GMB.
Sources in Indian Coast Guard also said the possibility of spillage due to leak in pipeline was very high.