This past December 7th marked four years since South Korea’s worst natural disaster, an oil spill on the west coast.

It occurred off the shores of Taean County in the Yellow Sea, and has since devastated the area’s environment and economy. A Samsung crane barge (literally a floating crane for offshore construction) snapped a cable while being tugged by a boat, allowing the free-flowing barge to crash into a Chinese oil tanker, puncturing three tanks and releasing over 10,000 tons of oil into the sea.

The spill has greatly affected Korea’s famous Mallipo Beach, known for its scenery and local seafood. There is also a huge wetlands area that countless birds depend upon, and about 450 sea farms for harvesting oysters and other seafood. After the spill, the sand and water became soaked in oil and tourists cancelled their reservations at local hotels. Without tourism or clean local seafood to sell, the restaurant industry also suffered. In total, about 30 beaches and half of the sea farms were affected. Luckily, most migratory birds had not yet arrived in the wetlands, but mallard ducks and seagulls were covered in oil.

. 

 “This past year has not changed much. Only 28 percent of compensation claims have been approved . . . and almost no money has actually been collected. Most people still can’t go back to work at the sea farms because oil is still present beneath the surface. “

 .

After the Korean government declared a state of disaster, over a million volunteers, including citizens, military, celebrities, and politicians (it was an election year), all came to help the cleanup effort in nauseating conditions. The cleanup cost an estimated US $330 million, and included material and financial aid from China, Russia and Japan. After just one month, over 4,100 tons of oil was collected, or almost half of the initial spill.

The captains of the tug boat, the crane barge, and the oil tanker were initially all considered at fault through an investigation by the Korean Coast Guard.  Two tug boat captains were later convicted of criminal negligence and imprisoned, while the other Korean captains were exonerated. However, against the protests of the international maritime community, the two Indian captains from the oil tanker were imprisoned for a whole 18 months before the case against them was finally dropped.

Since the spill and the massive cleanup effort, the results have been mixed. The beaches certainly look better, but some say that there is a lot of remaining contamination that simply can’t be seen. In the first year after the spill, there were at least four suicides as frustration grew over the damaged economy. Collecting compensation money was difficult because many of the sea farmers worked off the books, meaning there is no documentation of what they earned.

As of July 2010, things certainly still looked bleak, according to John Glionna of the Los Angeles Times. “Two and a half years after the accident, Taean is a ghost town. Tourism has dropped 86 percent and has just begun to bounce back. As scientists predict the ecosystem will take at least 20 years to heal, livelihoods that took generations to develop have been cut short. Today, only 30 percent of the area’s nearly 5,000 fishermen are back at work. Many others are scrambling for government loans to see them through the crisis.”

This past year has not brought much change. Only 28 percent of compensation claims have been approved by the IOPC (International Oil Pollution Compensation), and almost no money has actually been collected. Most people still can’t go back to work at the sea farms because oil is still present beneath the surface. As a result, people are simply losing faith in the government’s ability or willingness to take further action with compensation or cleanup.

It’s a sad story, especially considering the area is not far from Seoul and could have been a great beach visit for residents of the capital without having to travel down the coast or to the east coast. Hopefully, in the years to come, they will eventually see some real progress. With other recent oil spills, the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and the inefficiency (high cost per kilowatt) of alternative energy sources, the energy debate is sure to remain intense for the foreseeable future.