City of Balikpapan is struggling to deal with toxic smoke from fire that killed four fisherman

The Indonesian port city of Balikpapan, on the island of Borneo, has declared a state of emergency after a devastating oil spill spread along the coast, killing four fisherman when it ignited.

The oil spill, which occurred over the weekend, has now stretched to an area of around seven square miles (18 sq km), contaminating the sea and polluting the air with thick black smoke. One protected dugong has already washed up dead on the shore.

The four fisherman died after being caught up in the fire caused by the spill – another is still missing – and the port city of Balikpapan, which has a population of 700,000, is struggling to deal with the toxic smoke.

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“We’re in a state of emergency because of the oil spill’s impact,” said the Balikpapan city secretary MN Fadli. Around 1,200 people who live in the Penajam North Penajam Paser subdistrict reported symptoms of nausea, vomiting and breathing problems after the spill caught fire on Saturday and the city has distributed masks to help residents cope with the smell.

“I may sound like I’m exaggerating, but the state of the bay is like that of a gas station,” said Fadli.

The spill is thought to have been caused by a bulk coal carrier, which was carrying coal from Indonesia to Malaysia, but samples have also been taken from Pertamina, a state-owned oil refinery that has pipelines across the bay. Pertamina has denied it is responsible for the leak.

The full environmental impact of the oil spill is not yet known but it is already affecting the livelihoods of the local fisherman who rely on going out in their boats every day.

The Indonesian Environment and Forestry Ministry said a recovery team was working to contain and clean up the spill. Rasio Ridho Sani, the director general of the ministry, said: “Our team in the field is investigating it thoroughly. We will soon find out how big the impact is on the environment and who will be held responsible.”</s>The Indonesian port city of Balikpapan, on the island of Borneo, has declared a state of emergency after an oil spill spread along the coast, killing five fishermen when the oil caught fire.

Balikpapan is home to one of Indonesia's largest oil refineries. But the country's state energy company, Pertamina, has denied the spill was a result of its operations.</s>April 3 (UPI) -- Indonesian authorities on Tuesday declared a state of emergency after an oil spill last weekend that killed multiple people.

A fire ignited from the spill killed four fishermen in the port city of Balikpapan, off the coast of Borneo Island.

"We're in a state of emergency because of the oil spill's impact," Balikpapan City Secretary Fadli told The Straits Times.

Fadli added that the situation near the spill is still volatile.

"I may sound like I'm exaggerating, but the state of the bay is like that of a gas station," he said.

The spill has spread rapidly since Saturday to areas around ports and beaches.

Environmental officials said a recovery team is working to contain the oil with floating barriers and chemical sprays.

"Our focus now is to mitigate the impact of the oil spill," environmental director Rasio Ridho Sani said. "[We] have worked together to minimize the impact."

Rasio said masks have been distributed to protect residents from the spilled fuel. About 1,200 people have become sickened so far.

The cause of the spill is under investigation.</s>Indonesia declared a state of emergency Tuesday after a deadly oil spill off the coast of the island of Borneo continued to spread, the BBC reports.

At least four people were killed and hundreds of local residents say they have experienced health problems since the spill was reported early Saturday near the port city of Balikpapan in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province.

The slick, which now covers an area of seven sq. mi., also threatens fishing waters off the tropical island.

Authorities managed to extinguish the flames after the oil spill caught fire over the weekend, Agence France-Presse reports.

“The fire was quite big, about two kilometers [1.2 miles] high. It can be seen from Balikpapan city and the smell was all over the place,” a senior official with East Borneo’s search and rescue agency told AFP.

The cause of the spill, which occurred near a refinery operated by the state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina, is not yet known. Pertamina has denied responsibility for the disaster, according to the BBC.</s>Indonesia has declared a state of emergency after a large oil spill ignited and killed at least four people in the port city of Balikpapan off the island of Borneo over the weekend.

Black smoke rises from a burned oil spill at the waters in Balikpapan, Indonesia, March 31, 2018. A cargo ship caught fire in waters off East Kalimantan province in central Indonesia on Saturday, leaving two people dead and two others missing, an official said.

See also: Oilspill BP Gulf of Mexico: BP Macondo 252 Well Is Effectivily and Finally ‘Dead’ – The Next Oil Spill at Mumbai Coast: Clean up to take 45 days – Oil & Water: An Oil Documentary Like No Other – Stop Deepwater Drilling for Oil in The Arctic: It’s Time to Go Beyond Oil by Greenpeace – Trailer movie H2Oil – Toxic Fuels: Dirty Oil narrated by Neve Campbell – Crude: The Real Price of Oil – A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash – Toxic Fuels: Petropolis by Peter Mettler – Edward Burtynsky: OIL, a photographic documentation – Shell’s Big Dirty Secret</s>JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Officials in the Indonesian port city of Balikpapan declared a state of emergency on Monday (April 2) after an oil spill and a subsequent fire killed four people off Borneo island over the weekend.

"We're in a state of emergency because of the oil spill's impact," said Balikpapan city secretary MN Fadli.

He warned residents to be extra careful when spending time at affected beaches near Balikpapan Bay in East Kalimantan province, adding that they should not smoke near the area.

"I may sound like I'm exaggerating, but the state of the bay is like that of a gas station," he said.

The oil spill, which stretched for more than 400 metres in the bay on Saturday morning, has now spread to a radius of more than 2 kilometres in the waters around Semayang Port to Margasari, the Makassar Strait and beaches in the southeastern part of Makassar.

The Semayang Port Authority is coordinating with private oil company PT Chevron Indonesia and state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina to clean up the spill.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry's law enforcement director general, Rasio Ridho Sani, said a recovery team had deployed oil spill containment booms, which are temporary floating barriers used to contain an oil spill, as well as sprayed chemicals on the oil spots to make recovery easier.

"Our focus now is to mitigate the impact of the oil spill. Since Saturday, our team as well as Pertamina and the Balikpapan Environment and Sanitation Agency have worked together to minimise the impact."

Rasio said the agency also took some samples to determine the impact and source of the spill.

"Our team in the field is investigating it thoroughly. We will soon find out how big the impact is on the environment and who will be held responsible," he added.

The city has also distributed masks to protect local residents from the smell of fuel.

Some 1,200 people, who live in Penajam subdistrict, Penajam Paser Utara regency, said they became nauseous and experienced breathing problems after Saturday's incident.

Police have not yet released an official statement about the spill.

But state-owned energy giant Pertamina and the Balikpapan Disaster Mitigation Agency said the fire that flared up after the spill had not been caused by recovery activities, as was widely reported on Saturday.</s>JAKARTA
• Indonesia has declared a state of emergency around a port on Borneo island, officials said, after a large oil spill and fire killed four people at the weekend.

Disaster mitigation officials were able to control the blaze in the port city of Balikpapan but were still working to contain the spill, which started last Saturday and spread over an area of around 12 sq km.

"We have warned the public not to carry out activities that could spark fires," Mr Suryanto, head of the city's environmental agency, said yesterday.

Balikpapan, in East Kalimantan, is a major mining and energy hub and home to one of the few oil refineries in the country, run by state energy firm Pertamina.

The Semayang Port Authority is working with Pertamina and the private PT Chevron Indonesia to clean up the spill.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry's law enforcement director-general Rasio Ridho Sani said that a recovery team had deployed oil spill containment booms, which are temporary floating barriers used to contain an oil spill, as well as sprayed chemicals on the oil spots to make recovery easier.

"Our focus now is to mitigate the impact of the oil spill. Since Saturday, our team as well as Pertamina and the Balikpapan Environment and Sanitation Agency have worked together to minimise the impact."

Mr Rasio said the agency had taken samples to determine the impact and source of the spill.

"Our team in the field is investigating it thoroughly. We will soon find out how big the impact is on the environment and who will be held responsible," he added.

Pertamina said it was doing its own investigations and that its underwater pipeline in the area did not have any leaks.

The city has distributed masks to local residents after some 1,200 people living in the Penajam sub-district, Penajam Paser Utara regency, complained of nausea and breathing problems after Saturday's incident.</s>Indonesia has declared a state of emergency around a port on Borneo island, officials said on Tuesday, after a large oil spill and fire killed four people at the weekend, Reuters reports.

Disaster mitigation officials were able to control the blaze in the port city of Balikpapan but were still working to contain the spill, which started on Saturday and spread over an area of around 12 square km (4.5 square miles).

“We have warned the public not to carry out activities that could spark fires,” Suryanto, head of the city’s environmental agency, said.

Balikpapan, in East Kalimantan, is a major mining and energy hub and home to one of the few oil refineries in the country, run by state energy firm Pertamina.</s>JAKARTA, Indonesia — Waters off an Indonesian port city reek like a gas station after an oil spill and fire that killed four people over the weekend, an official said Wednesday.

Balikpapan city secretary Sayid Fadli said that the city on the island of Borneo was in its third day of a state of emergency following the weekend spill around Semayang Port.

“The city is in an emergency situation because of the oil spill and the bay is now like a gas station,” Fadli said. “We have warned workers and residents around the bay to refrain from lighting cigarettes and make safety the priority.”

Four people died after the fuel caught fire on Saturday, filling skies around the city with choking black smoke. One person is missing.

The city has distributed masks, and more than 1,300 people have suffered breathing problems, nausea and vomiting.

Fadli said police were still investigating the source of the spill, which as of Tuesday had an area of about 12 square kilometres (4.6 square miles). A preliminary investigation showed it was marine fuel oil.

The port authority was working with Chevron Indonesia and state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina, which operates an oil refinery in Balikpapan, in its attempts to clean up the spill, Fadli said.

Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya said in a statement Wednesday that officials from the ministry were assessing the environmental damage.

As of Monday, the spill was estimated at about 400 barrels of oil, but officials are still measuring its full extent, she said.

The joint team responding to the emergency should prioritize residential areas for cleanup “due to the stench and other potential risks,” said Nurbaya.</s>Indonesia has declared a state of emergency around a port on Borneo island, officials said on Tuesday, after a large oil spill and fire killed four people at the weekend.

JAKARTA: Indonesia has declared a state of emergency around a port on Borneo island, officials said on Tuesday, after a large oil spill and fire killed four people at the weekend.

Disaster mitigation officials were able to control the blaze in the port city of Balikpapan but were still working to contain the spill, which started on Saturday and spread over an area of around 12 square km (4.5 square miles).

"We have warned the public not to carry out activities that could spark fires," Suryanto, head of the city's environmental agency, said.

Balikpapan, in East Kalimantan, is a major mining and energy hub and home to one of the few oil refineries in the country, run by state energy firm Pertamina.

The state-owned company said it was investigating where the oil had originated and that its own underwater pipeline in the area did not have any leaks. Pertamina said there had been no disruptions to operations.

"At this time, our team is prioritising management (of the incident)," said Arya Dwi Paramita, external communications manager at Pertamina.
The port city of Balikpapan, Borneo, Indonesia declares a state of emergency in response to an ongoing oil spill fire off the coast. The spill and fire killed four fishermen and is releasing toxic fumes. The slick currently extends to around seven square miles and marine fauna including protected species are being affected.