Thai villagers take refiner Star Petroleum to court over oil spill

Inuvo

24/01/2023 09:06

BANGKOK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Thai villagers
and small business-owners have filed lawsuits for damages worth
5 billion baht ($152.72 million) against Star Petroleum Refining
(SPRC)  SPRC.BK , PTT Global Chemical  PTTGC.BK  and government
agencies over an oil spill, a law firm representing the
complainants said on Tuesday.
    The lawsuits allege a lack of maintenance of an underwater
oil pipeline owned by Star Petroleum, which last January leaked
an estimated 50,000 litres (13,209 gallons) of oil into the
ocean, said Rising Sun law firm, which is representing the group
of 837 complainants.
    Some of the oil reached the shoreline of the eastern
province of Rayong, causing damage to the local environment and
tourism. 
    Rising Sun law firm said the lawsuits also included
complaints over failure to deal with the leak and excessive use
of dispersant to clean up the water. Separate suits were filed
against Thai government agencies to speed up rehabilitation of
the Rayong ecosystem and pressure Star Petroleum Refining and
PTT Global Chemical to set up a rehabilitation fund for
villagers worth 5 billion baht.
        Star Petroleum said in an e-mail that it has provided
337 million baht in relief for 12,361 people so far and that it
could not comment legal cases. 
  
    PTT Global Chemical did not immediately respond to a Reuters
request for comment. Chevron, which holds a 60.56% stake in Star
Petroleum, declined to comment.
    Last year, Star Petroleum it had spent $42 million on
emergency response and financial relief for those impacted. 
    "About 70% of those who been affected have received
assistance from the companies," Athapol Charoenshunsa,
Director-General of Department of Marine and Coastal Resources
told Reuters on Monday. 
    "But some have not received what they demanded and they are
within their right to take legal action," Athapol said. 
($1 = 32.7400 baht)
 (Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um, Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut
Setboonsarng; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor)
 ((chayut.setboonsarng@tr.com, Twitter: @ChayutSet;
+66854849033;))