Guimaras, Philippines
The Philippine island of Guimaras declared a “state of calamity” this week after an oil tanker slopped a half-million gallons of industrial fuel near its shore. The tanker Solar I sank in rough seas, causing a 17-mile oil slick, the worst spill ever to hit the Philippines. Sludgy oil 4 inches thick coated a marine sanctuary off a nearby island. “Our shorelines hit by the oil look like they were painted black,” said local official Diosdado Gonzaga. Philippine authorities appealed to international spill containment crews for help, saying they had no way of reaching the leaking tanker, now resting beneath 3,000 feet of water.
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