Debated in Parliament on 11 Nov 2024.
Ms Hazel Poa asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) whether the Government will be checking the structural integrity of all oil pipelines in Singapore's waters; (b) what other measures can be taken to prevent the occurrence of future oil spills in Singapore's waters; and (c) whether any penalties will be imposed on the company responsible for the oil leak on 20 October 2024.
Mr Speaker, in relation to the earlier reply by the Minister of State Murali Pillai on the Parliamentary Questions on the recent oil spill incidents, let me say that for the October 24 oil spill incident, 30 to 40 tonnes of slop, which is a mixture of oil and water, leaked from a pipeline belonging to Shell at Pulau Bukom. Clean-up works have been completed and there have been no oil sightings, both at sea and ashore.
Investigations by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) into the incident are ongoing. It is an offence under the Environmental Protection and Management Act for any person to discharge any polluting matter into a watercourse.
It is also an offence under the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea Act, to discharge any oil or oily mixture into Singapore waters from any place on land or from any apparatus used for transferring oil from or to any ship. Industrial facilities typically conduct regular maintenance and inspections of equipment, including oil pipelines, to reduce the risk of leaks or failure. NEA also conducts regular inspections of facilities with oil pipelines, such as refineries and petrochemical plants, to ensure compliance with environmental pollution standards' control requirements. As part of the investigation, NEA is reviewing the measures that Shell has put in place at their facility and whether additional measures are needed to minimise the risk of oil leaks further.
As an interim measure, NEA has directed Shell to carry out a comprehensive pipeline integrity check across their Bukom plant. As investigations are still ongoing, it is premature to discuss whether and what enforcement measures will be taken. But NEA takes a serious view on the importance of businesses and individuals fulfilling their obligations to protect our environment and we will not hesitate to take enforcement action in accordance with the law against any party found responsible for negligence or wrongdoing.
After it has conducted its investigations, NEA will share relevant learning points with other industrial facilities to review and strengthen their measures and standard operating procedures and to perform checks on their systems, where needed. On the other measures to minimise the risk of oil spills, the Member may refer to the earlier response by the Minister of State for Transport, Mr Murali Pillai, to Parliamentary Questions on the recent oil spill incidents.
Ms Hazel Poa.
I thank Senior Minister of State Amy Khor for her reply. She mentioned that there are regular inspections of the equipment. Can I clarify, what frequency that would be? Secondly, it was announced that researchers will be conducting a 15-month plan to monitor the impact of the 14 June oil spill on biodiversity in the intertidal areas. Will this plan now be extended to cover the recent oil spills in October?
First, let me say, as I have noted earlier in my response, the industrial facilities will typically conduct regular maintenance and inspections of their equipment, including the pipelines, to ensure there are no leaks or failures. In fact, the onus is actually on them to conduct this regular maintenance and checks on their equipment. But NEA also conducts regular checks on these facilities with the oil pipelines, including petrochemical plants and refineries, to ensure that they comply with environmental pollution control requirements to make sure that the measures that they put in place for pollution control is effective. Generally, we will check at the run-off of the discharge points, because if there is oil leak in any facility, the run-off will be contaminated.
How regularly do we check? We do it regularly, through the course of the year. It may depend on the assessment by the agency as to how often they will need to do checks on these facilities.
With regard to the study on the impact of the oil spills, the National Parks Board (NParks) monitors the impact of any oil spill incidents on the marine and coastal ecosystem, as well as on the wildlife. Thus far, for the October incident for instance, NParks has assessed that there has been no immediate impact on the marine and coastal ecosystem as well as the wildlife. I understand that they will continue to monitor this.
PAPERCUTS