The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Thursday said 21 locally-managed marine protected areas risk environmental damage arising from the wreckage of MT Princess Empress in Oriental Mindoro.
The DENR said it mapped the risk areas that include seagrass beds, mangroves and dispersion pathways for spawned fish larvae.
As of Wednesday night, the agency said the oil spill spans six kilometers long and four kilometers wide as the Environmental Management Bureau carried out water sampling in the municipalities of Naujan, Pola and Pinamalayan.
DENR said Task Force Naujan Oil Spill has also been created quickly to address the emergency and create a mid- to long-term risk management strategy for the affected areas.
The agency also cited the Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) marine environmental protection command confirmation the MT Princess Empress with 800,000 liters of industrialized fuel oil has already sunk.
The PCG is setting up spill booms to protect the locally-managed marine protected areas while the Philippine Air Force will conduct an aerial surveillance in the days ahead further to assess the situation.
