Officials had yet to determine if oil slicks earlier found on the beach of the Ao Prao bay came from the leakage of an undersea oil pipeline off Map Ta Phut sub-district and the latest survey found no oil slicks on the beach.
Sopon Thongdee, director-general of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, said officials were examining samples of water, sand and sediment collected from the beach of Ao Prao to determine if oil slicks found there at noon came from the pipeline leakage.
An undersea crude pipeline of Star Petroleum Refining pcl leaked at the night of Jan 25.
There were patches of oil slicks for a distance of about 50 meters on the beach of Ao Prao at 12.30 p.m. on Jan 31.
A drone survey at 4.10pm did not find any more oil slicks there. Officials on a patrol boat did not see any oil slick at five sets of containment booms installed at the Samet channel either.
Initial examination found the normal quality of seawater in the area.
Ruamsilp Manajongprasert, director of the Protected Areas Regional Office 2, said officials of the Khao Laem Ya-Mu Ko Samet National Park had yet to prove if the oil slicks were from the leaked crude oil or from speedboats.
Oil slicks from speedboats were normal there, he said. (TNA)
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