Oil slick: at the Montara oil project
- Montara is on course
- WWF team weighs up Montara damage
- PTTEP rubbishes talk of Montara fire
- 'Oz should impose WA moratorium'
- New chief for NOPSA
- Fears grow for wildlife
- West Triton on its way to Montara
- Glitch delays West Triton sailaway
- Relief well for slick at Montara
- Rudd brands Montara slick 'appalling'
- Delay hits Montara salvage work
- PTTEP prepares to spray Montara
- PTTEP battling slick at Montara
- West Triton tow line snaps
- Montara spill prompts Canberra move
- West Triton on the move again
- APPEA backs bill to tackle Montara spill
- West Triton nears Montara
- West Triton poised to plug Montara
- Aussie government pledges probe into Montara leak
- Montara relief well under way
- Montara legal threat 'premature'
- Relief for Montara
Garrett slams Montara claims
The Australian government has hit back at claims that it is not doing enough to monitor marine wildlife in the area of the Montara oil spill in the Timor Sea, while neighbouring Indonesia fears the slick may reach its shores.
Environment Minister Peter Garrett told the ABC yesterday that the government was treating the spill very seriously.
“We have got a vessel out at sea at the moment with wildlife experts on board and we’re treating this very seriously, as we should be,” he said.
“I’m taking this very seriously ... I want to make absolutely clear that some of the claims that we have heard from the Greens, and others that we don’t have plans in place to deal with this and we aren’t working them through, are absolutely untrue.
“We’re head down and bum up on this.”
The Greens have reiterated their concern at the lack of response by authorities to address the potential impact on marine life from the leaking oil following reports from a WWF boat at the site of the spill.
"By now we would expect to be seeing a multi-agency response by authorities including Fisheries departments, coral experts from the Australian Institute of Marine Science and elsewhere, eco-toxicologists and other marine life experts, out there, monitoring the slick and gathering data that will inform us, over the months or years to come, about the full impacts of this disaster,” Greens WA senator Rachel Siewert said.
"Instead, we have very little information or evidence that this kind of information is being collected."
Garrett added that he was confident the government had appropriate and adequate measures in place to deal with the difficult situation.
Meanwhile, the oil spill from the Montara oilfield in West Australia is drifting close to Indonesian waters off Timor Island and Sumba Island in East Nusa Tenggara, prompting calls for contingency measures to prevent it from spreading further.
Director of West Timor Care Foundation, Ferdi Tanoni, said the oil spill might spread to Indonesian territory within two weeks, reported the Jakarta Post.
“The Australian government must take immediate steps to stop the spill from spreading further. I have asked fishermen to bring home samples of the oil spill and dead fish as evidence,” Tanoni said yesterday.
“I’m afraid the oil spill will destroy our environment and marine ecosystem as the wind blows from Australia to Indonesian waters.”
Indonesia's Transportation Ministry's director of sea and shoreline security, Sato Bisri, will carry out a joint observation with Australian officials at the Montara platform tomorrow.
The Montara oilfield lies south of Indonesia’s Pasir Island, a populart fishing spot for many East Nusa Tenggara fishermen.
Oil started leaking from Thai company PTTEP’s Montara development in the Timor Sea on 21 August.
PTTEP is currently drilling a relief a well to intersect the existing well from the Montara wellhead platform to stop the flow of oil, gas and water.
The company said yesterday that the relief well drilling operation remained on schedule to take three and a half weeks from the drilling start date of 14 September to stop the leak.
Following the completion of the initial relief well operation, PTTEP said a specialist crew will board the West Atlas drilling rig and the Montara wellhead platform to further secure the well by plugging the well bore.
This phase is expected to take about another week.