East Coast Park beach partially reopens after oil spill

SINGAPORE: Two areas of the beach at East Coast Park reopen to the public on Monday (Jul 22) after an oil spill last month.

Cleaning at East Coast Park areas B and E has been completed and the cordon has been lifted. The other areas – C, D, F, G and H – remain closed.

No timeline was provided on when these remaining sections would reopen.

"Non-primary contact water sports, such as kayaking, conducted from both areas (B and E) can resume," said the National Environment Agency (NEA) in a media advisory on Monday.

"While it is safe to use the beach, the public is advised not to swim or undertake primary contact water sports such as wakeboarding and stand-up paddling in the beach waters."

The agency said it continues to monitor beach water quality and water activities can fully resume only when the water quality returns to normal.

On Jun 14, a Netherlands-flagged dredger hit a stationary bunker vessel, causing oil from the latter's damaged cargo tank to spill into the water.

In the days that followed, oil washed up along several beaches, including those on Sentosa, East Coast Park and Labrador Nature Reserve, as well as beaches at St John's, Lazarus and Kusu islands. Oil slicks were also spotted at Marina South Pier.

Last week, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said oil spill clean-up operations were in the final phases after progressing faster than expected.

The first phase of the clean-up focused on removing oil slicks and contaminated sand from the surface of the affected beaches and deploying booms to avoid further contamination.

The next phase was aimed at removing oil from difficult-to-clean areas like rock bunds, breakwaters, and oil trapped deeper in the sand. 

A final phase will see beaches combed to remove "tar balls" - small oil deposits that have hardened and mixed with sand. Their sizes range from being as small as pebbles to as large as a fist.