SKorea in emergency survey of oil spill damage: officials

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2007

SEOUL (AFP) — South Korea's government will conduct an emergency survey of ecological systems on the west coast after parts were hit by the country's worst oil spill, officials said Tuesday.

The survey will be conducted soon, an environment ministry spokesman said, as concerns rose over marine life after dead porpoises started washing up on shore.

Experts from the environment ministry and the min

istry of maritime affairs and fisheries will assess the damage after a tanker was holed by a drifting barge on December 7, spilling 10,500 tons of crude oil off Taean county.

Environmentalists say it may be decades before the coastline can full recover, despite the efforts of 40,000 people and hundreds of ships still battling the spill on Tuesday.

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