What impacts of massive fire at Jurong Island?

The was a massive fire at an oil tank on Jurong Island at Jurong Aromatics Corporation (JAC) on 20 Apr 2016. It took five hours to put out the fire.

Location of JAC from google maps.

What are the possible impacts on marine life nearby? Here's a closer look at the public information on the fire so far.

Singapore's every day haze: reason for haze level peak at night?

Even on the bluest sky day, there is usually a layer of haze over Singapore's southern industrial areas. Does this ever-present level of pollution exacerbate smoke haze from Indonesian fires?

A layer of haze over Jurong Island seen from Sentosa.

Is that why haze levels climb to dangerous levels at night? As the build up of every day 'haze' from traffic and industries in Singapore during the day, adds to the smoke from Indonesia?

From NEA

Shell charged for Bukom refinery fire

The Ministry of Manpower has filed a charge against Shell for alleged lapses in workplace safety that led to the massive fire at the Bukom refinery a year ago.

From the Straits Times 30 Sep 11

In this image, Pulau Hantu is the small wooded island above Pulau Bukom.

Update on fire at Shell's Bukom refinery

It appears there WAS a fire at the Shell Bukom refinery on 26 Mar which forced the plant to be shut down for a few hours, and one of three Crude Distillation Units (CDUs) to be down a day after. Shell says "the flame and smoke that you see are from the refinery’s flare system".

Photo by Straits Times, Lau Fook Kong.

But according to Reuters: "A momentary trip in electricity supply to the plant, called a power dip, triggered a fire in one of the smaller secondary cracking units, part of its 33,000-bpd Long Residue Catalytic Cracker (LRCC) complex."

Another fire at Shell's Bukom refinery?

On 26 Mar 2012 "flames and smoke were seen coming out of a processing plant on Pulau Bukom" according to media articles.

Photo by Straits Times, Lau Fook Kong.

Reports said "the power trip had caused the plant's 'flare system' to go off" and when asked, Shell "declined to elaborate on the incident".

Shell refinery fire at Bukom: a 'bright side'?

Mainstream media reports following the fire seem to be highlighting the 'bright side' of the fire.

This is not a fire, it is flaring at Pulau Bukom refineries
seen from Semakau seagrass meadows, Feb 2010.

Some reports said repair of the refinery "may bring new business opportunities" to other companies. A Straits Times interview with the Shell Chairman, who warned that flaring can be expected, ended by remarking "For Shell, clearly not all fires are so bad after all". We also find out more from recent media reports, including how foam was used from the first time the fire broke out.

Shell refinery fire at Bukom: what caused it?

"The fire broke out during preparation work for maintenance" preliminary findings from the investigation showed, according to recent mainstream media reports.

Foaming operations at the fire site,
photo from Channel NewsAsia 1 Oct 11

Debby Ng of the Hantu Bloggers also shared a first look at the impact on the natural reefs at Pulau Hantu.

A glimpse of Bukom after the fire

There are no obvious signs of the massive fire on Pulau Bukom, as we passed the Shell refinery under clear, blue skies.

I took a few photos yesterday on our way to Pulau Semakau.

Shell refinery fire at Bukom: aftermath

The fire which flared up at noon 29 Sep was reportedly extinguished late the same day.

From the Straits Times 30 Sep 11

In this image, Pulau Hantu is the small wooded island above Pulau Bukom.

Shell refinery fire at Bukom: what natural shores nearby?

Some of our best natural shores ring Pulau Bukom.

What are some of the potential environmental impacts of the fire that broke out at Bukom yesterday?

Cyrene: mainly molluscs with shark!

We met many molluscs on Cyrene this morning. Including the delightful China moon snail!

Also many tiny echinoderm babies, and Ivan finds a shark! Sadly, massive flaring still ongoing at Jurong Island.

Massive flaring at Jurong Island

Towering above the skyline, massive flaring was going on at Jurong Island yesterday.

Here is the flare taken from Pulau Semakau's sea shore. Pulau Hantu is the forested area on the horizon. Pulau Bukom lies to the right and is not in this photo. I didn't notice massive flaring on Pulau Bukom on this trip.

NEA comments on flaring at Bukom

The emission of dark smoke from a chimney is against the law outside agreed limitations, says the National Environment Agency (NEA) -- according to today's Straits Times article about flaring on Pulau Bukom.

Flaring on Pulau Bukom, near living reefs at Pulau Hantu and
other areas of rich marine biodiversity including Cyrene Reef.

Other insights from the article: Shell says it is within the limitations but an NEA spokesman said: 'We are working with Shell to understand and stem this unusual spate of smoke emissions from the flare stacks.'

Sea turtle release at Big Sisters: will they make it?

Yesterday I attended the release of captive bred hawksbill turtles at Big Sisters Island organised by Underwater World Singapore.
It was exciting to witness the release of these gentle creatures.

How's the bleaching at Pulau Hantu?

With lots of wet weather recently, we are hoping that there is less bleaching at Pulau Hantu compared to our trip about a month ago.
We started work at 4.30am and stopped as the tide turned to enjoy a spectacular sunrise!

The Dark Side of Cyrene

We arrive at 4am in pitch darkness during a new moon on our second night trip to Cyrene. With only the lights of the massive industries that ring Cyrene.
I took this photo at daybreak, with the Jurong Island industrial installations still lit up like Christmas lights. A night trip is very different from one in broad daylight. In the cool darkness, more animals are active and out and about. Here's some first-time and interesting sightings I encountered today.

Bleaching at Pulau Hantu

Bleaching leathery soft corals are very obvious on the living reefs of Pulau Hantu that lie just opposite the industrial installations on Pulau Bukom.
It was disconcerting to see for the first time, bleaching in some kinds of animals that we have not seen before.

Oil slick from the sky?

This morning, as we pass by the petrochemical plants on Pulau Bukom before dawn, we see that flaring is still going on.
At sunrise, the size of the 'cloud' over Pulau Bukom is more apparent.

Windy on Beting Bemban Besar

Rain is not the only problem that makes taking photos of our marinelife difficult.
While we were blessed with a cool, cloudy and mostly rain-free morning, the constant breeze plagued our efforts to document the submerged reef of Beting Bemban Besar.

Semakau swiftly with flaring on Pulau Bukom

Another predawn start for the low tide, this time with TeamSeagrass to Pulau Semakau.
As we approach Pulau Semakau, we could see that flaring is still going on at Pulau Bukom's petrochemical installations!

There are two black plumes rising up from the huge flare as we head out to our monitoring sites at Pulau Semakau's vast seagrass meadows.