Shovel off oil slicks for proper clean-up: Expert

The oil slicks remaining fused with the shore soil of the Sundarbans' rivers should be shoveled off from the affected areas and be stored in a particular place to properly clean up those, reports UNB quoting a chemical engineer.
"After storing the 'slick mixed soil' in a low place, oil should be removed from the soil by pouring water on it," Prof Dr Quader, a former teacher of Chemical Engineering Department at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), said.
The suggestion came when BNP said that they would make public on Friday the findings of the investigation by a seven-member high-level into the oil-tanker crash in the Shela River of the Sundarbans and the subsequent effects on the biodiversity of the world's largest mangrove forest due to the oil spill.
The findings would be revealed at a press conference at the BNP chairperson's Gulshan office at 11am, Khaleda Zia's media wing member Sayrul Kabir Khan said.
He said the probe-body chief and BNP vice chairman Hafizuddin Ahmed handed over a copy of the findings of their enquiry to BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on Thursday at her office. Khaleda asked Hafiz to brief the media about their findings together with party acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
On December 9, the tanker carrying more than 350,000 litres of furnace oil sank in the Shela River, home to rare Ganges Dolphins and Irrawaddy Dolphins, in the Sundarbans, threatening the wildlife in the UNESCO World Heritage site.
The oil had spread over 100 sq km inside the delicate mangrove forest area. At least 20 canals and a major river, Pashur, are connected with the Shela River.
Prof Quader, having expertise on chemical engineering field, said the way the oil was being cleaned up was not a hygienic one. "It was told that the tanker with furnace oil sank in the river. The authorities should have indentified what grade of furnace oil the tanker was carrying from the material safety data shit (MSDS)."
He said MSDS gives a description of physical and chemical characteristics of oil, its density, adverse nature, and remedy action to handle the material.
The chemical engineer suggested creating barricades with nets on the embankments of the rivers where slick was mixed with soil so that wild animals could be protected while they would be intending to drink water from the affected areas of the rivers.
Meanwhile, an expert team of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is working to assess the extent of impacts caused by the oil spill following an oil tanker crash in the Sundarbans.
The 'Joint UN-Govt Oil Spill Response Mission' will visit different oil spill-affected areas in the Sundarbans till Saturday (Dec 27).