Amy Khor on investigations into Shell ‘slop’ leak

Between 30 and 40 tonnes of “slop” - a mixture of oil and water - leaked from a pipeline belonging to Shell at Pulau Bukom on Oct 20 this year. Clean-up works have been completed and there have been no oil sightings at sea and ashore. Investigations by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore into the incident are ongoing. As part of the investigation, NEA is reviewing the measures that Shell has put in place at its facility. As an interim measure, NEA has directed Shell to carry out a comprehensive pipeline integrity check across its Bukom plant. Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Amy Khor gave this update in reply to a Parliamentary question on Monday (Nov 11). She said as investigations are still ongoing, it is premature to discuss what enforcement measures will be taken. After it has conducted its investigations, NEA will share the relevant learning points with other industrial facilities to review and strengthen their measures and SOPs, and to perform checks on their systems where needed, she added.