Star Petroleum Refining Public Company Limited, or SPRC, in alliance with Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand and Rayong Entrepreneurs in Map Ta Phut and Ban Chang Industrial Estate Area, arranged a beach cleaning event in Rayong or International Coastal Cleanup 2022 (ICC 2022) under the campaign “Sea the Change.” SPRC and its alliance groups gathered more than 1,000 volunteers attending the cleaning event at Mae Ramphueng Beach, Rayong Province, and almost 3,000 kilograms of trash was collected.
Despite efforts to clean up the oil spill from Star Petroleum Refining Public Co's (SPRC) pipeline, the concentration of heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons on Mae Ramphueng beach still exceed levels considered safe, the Rayong Pollution Control Centre said on Tuesday.
The seawater around Mae Ramphueng beach in Rayong has been contaminated by two recent oil spills and is unsafe for recreational activities, according to the Rayong Pollution Control Centre.
Frantic efforts were underway on Wednesday to clear up about 160,000 litres of crude oil which leaked from an undersea pipeline near Map Ta Phut in Rayong province on Tuesday, Marine and Coastal Resources Department director-general Sopon Thongdee said.
An oil spill flowing towards Koh Samet is dampening the island's tourism outlook as operators could face an influx of cancellations, as happened with a previous leak at Ao Phrao in July 2013.