MEPA urged to ensure safety of workers engaged in clearing toxic debris from X-Press disaster

By Ifham Nizam

Nearly 70 people engaged in the cleaning and collecting of nurdles from the ill-fated X-Press Pearl Ship, which sank off the port of Colombo in May 2021, were at a severe risk due to being exposed to harmful chemical substances, warns a team of experts covering a wide spectrum.

Hemantha Withanage, Senior Advisor, Centre for Environmental Justice/Chairman, Friends of the Earth, told The Island yesterday that they had informed the Marine Pollution Prevention Authority (MEPA) of the carcinogenic effects and the potential disasters in waiting.

“There are some 70 odd women at work and they are exposed to higher risk and it is the paramount duty of MEPA to ensure their safety. This should be scientifically handled,” Withanage strongly believes.

Withanage said that going by the scientific evidence, the ship’s chemical spill would have a negative impact for 500 years.

According to Withanage the International Maritime Organization’s Maritime Safety Commission is currently discussing how to address the loss of plastic pellets at sea and better track containers lost at sea.

Sri Lanka has submitted a proposal to classify plastic pellets as hazardous substances, and Vanuatu has presented one addressing the reporting of containers lost at sea.

Withanage added: “It is significant that developing island states located along the busiest maritime routes are taking a lead here. As global trade grows, their coastal communities are threatened by toxic chemicals and plastic pollution from shipping disasters that could cause them long-lasting or irreversible damage.,”

The ship was carrying 1,680 tonnes of plastic pellets. After the incident dead fish, turtles, dolphins, and whales washed up on local beaches, along with huge quantities of plastic pellets. Fishing bans were imposed and clean-up operations began. To better understand the potential toxicity of the plastic pollution, CEJ collected samples of pellets and ‘burnt lumps’ (plastic debris from the ship) from four coastal locations.

The samples were analyzed for heavy metals, benzotriazole UV (BUV) stabilizers, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), bisphenols, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

“The X-Press Pearl disaster reveals the complexity of shipping chemicals. All steps should be under scrutiny to ensure this accident is not repeated. Our report shows these accidents have huge consequences on the environment and economies,” says Chalani Rubesinghe, project planning and management officer with CEJ.

Therese Karlsson, IPEN science and technical advisor, said: “Around 90% of the world trade in goods is shipped by sea. As container ships are becoming bigger and transporting increasingly complex mixtures of chemicals, this incident must be considered the oil spill of our times. To protect coastal communities, it is therefore crucial that prevention, mitigation, and regulatory measures are adapted to tackle the risks associated with today’s shipping patterns.”