Copyright © KabarRiau.com All Rights Reserved.Design by : AdityaPhoto : CPO Oil Spill in Belawan WatersMedan - Water quality degradation can be caused by various things, one of which is an oil spill.Although it is a vegetable oil, spills of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) or crude palm oil in several cases in Indonesia have caused significant degradation of seawater quality and adversely affected marine life.As many as 8 tons of palm oil products, known as crude palm oil (CPO) spilled in the waters of Belawan, Medan, making Rahmadsyah Activists who are members of the Environmental Conservation Institute (LKLH) speak up.Rahmadsyah said that according to information received, this CPO spilled last Sunday (2/10/2022) at around 23.05 WIB at Pier 105 of Ujung Belawan Port.CPO mixed with seawater and sand has a specific gravity of 3.75 gr/cm3.In some cases, in addition to increasing temperature and pH, BOD, COD and turbidity also decrease and decrease DO and TDS.CPO spills have a negative impact on ecosystems and marine biota such as mangroves, tiger prawns, crabs, corals and others.This is due to the clumps and layers of CPO covering the surface of the waters, thereby interfering with the penetration of sunlight and the respiration and photosynthesis processes of marine plants.It is necessary to be aware of and mitigate oil spill disasters to reduce the risk of environmental degradation.There are several ways that can be used to reduce oil levels or CPO spills such as Oil Boom, Oil sponge, aquatic plants Azolla folliculoid to certain types of bacteria Bacillus and Geobacillus."This CPO comes from a pipeline installation belonging to PT. Pacific Palmindo Industri for the loading process to the MT No. 02 Asean Pioneer ship which is docked," he said, Saturday (8/10/2022)Rahmadsyah asked the Law Enforcement Officials to conduct an examination of the parties involved in the CPO oil spill"The spill of palm oil or commonly called CPO (Crude Palm Oil) which is estimated to reach 8 tons polluted Belawan waters because palm oil contains high BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand), low pH and difficult to decompose organic material which of course is very dangerous for the survival of the people. marine biota habitat.he saidRahmadsyah continued, saying that the Belawan waters area and its surrounding waters are an area rich in pelagic fish, which is a type of fish that lives in shallow waters with a depth of 0-200 meters.The presence of palm oil will certainly affect this type of fish which can cause this fish to be poisoned and die.The oil molecules will block sunlight and oxygen from entering the sea covered by this palm oil.This will affect coral reefs and other underwater biota.Obstruction of sunlight and oxygen will certainly affect the process of photosynthesis and respiration of marine life and in the long term will trigger coral bleaching and death of marine life.The presence of palm oil will of course also affect the types of marine mammals and turtles, where the waters around Belawan are also turtle habitats.This palm oil will enter the lungs of these marine mammals and reptiles, causing them to be poisoned and die."As a result of the CPO Oil Spill, systematically, the threat to the sustainability of marine biota habitat depends on bioplankton and marine microorganisms which are the main producers of the marine food chain. Bioplankton and marine microorganisms are very vulnerable to changes that occur in their habitat. Disturbed habitat stability will certainly disrupt the food chain. for the vulnerable bay ecosystem. Furthermore, palm oil contamination will affect the bioecoregion. The impact will not only affect marine ecosystems, but will also affect land creatures such as bird species that have been looking for fish as their food source in this area," he explained.Rahmad also said that although with the naked eye, palm oil looks lumpy when exposed to seawater (minerals) or air (oxidation), but some of the amino acids in palm oil will remain on the surface of the water as liquids.This liquid is difficult to decompose and has the potential to widen because it is on the surface so it is easily carried by ocean currents, especially the weather conditions in the city of Padang are currently rainy and windy.Related to the company's negligence in managing its business, causing pollution,"We ask that the provincial government and law enforcement officers need to act decisively to evaluate the environmental permits owned by the company, if necessary, a review of the company's environmental documents is immediately carried out, especially in terms of preventing and controlling the environmental impact of the company's business."he saidHe also said that from the overall impact, not only the country was harmed by this negligence.Fishermen as the closest community from the incident location will receive the worst impacts."As citizens, the fishing community whose rights are also protected by law must receive attention in this incident."he saidBased on information from sources, the leak must be investigated further, the Government and the company in addition to controlling and restoring the environment after this incident, it is also very important and must be carried out immediately is an environmental audit to see the impact of the pollution of this bay as a whole.In addition to evaluating environmental permits, the Company's negligence that resulted in sea water pollution can also be suspected of having violated Article 99 paragraph (1) of Law Number 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management that"Everyone who because of his negligence results in exceeding the ambient air quality standard, water quality standard, sea water quality standard, or environmental damage standard criteria, shall be punished with imprisonment for a minimum of 1 (one) year and a maximum of 3 (three) years and a fine a minimum of Rp.1,000,000,000.00 (one billion rupiah) and a maximum of Rp.3,000,000,000.00 (three billion rupiah).For this reason, the North Sumatran activist urges the government to move quickly to deal with this problem and take action against companies that carry out activities without complying with environmental laws.**