Oil spill: OEFA reports that the affected area increased to 1 million 739 thousand square meters

Cleaning crews work to remove oil from a beach in the Peruvian province of Callao on January 17, 2022, after a spill which occurred during the unloading process of the Italian-flagged tanker “Mare Doricum” at La Pampilla refinery caused by the abnormal waves recorded after the volcanic eruption in Tonga. – A massive volcanic eruption in Tonga triggered tsunami waves around the Pacific, with waves strong enough to drown two women in Peru, more than 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) away. (Photo by Cris BOURONCLE / AFP)

Miriam Alegría, president of the Environmental Assessment and Enforcement Agency (OEFA) of the Ministry of the Environment, pointed out that the extension of the area affected by the oil spill last Saturday, January 15, in Ventanilla has increased. It was reported that there are now 1 million 739 thousand square meters of area affected by this event caused by the Repsol company.

As is known, an Italian-flagged vessel that came to supply fuel to the La Pampilla Refinery had problems due to abnormal waves and generated the spill of 6,000 barrels of crude oil. Four days later, the cleanup actions are progressing slowly and, according to the president of the Council of Ministers, Mirtha Vásquez, the management company would not have had a contingency plan to deal with this disaster.

COMPANY SPEAKS

Repsol reiterated this Wednesday in a statement that it is “executing the work of remediation of the coastline and cleaning of beaches after the situation generated by the high tides recorded due to the volcanic eruption in Tonga.”

“Containment barriers have been deployed that cover all the affected areas and brigades with specialized teams by sea and land,” he added.

On Cavero beach, in Ventanilla, dozens of workers with personal protection equipment used shovels to collect crude oil on the coast for the third day, while members of the Navy guard the beaches, AFP found.

Javier Vega, one of the workers, said that “the work is hard, we are working from 6 in the morning to 6 in the afternoon collecting the oil.”

The operation is carried out under the inclement sun of the southern summer, with temperatures exceeding 25 degrees Celsius and with a strong smell of hydrocarbons.

Workers use long sponges, like sausages, to collect the oil from the beach, which shows a dark and viscous tone, impregnated with oil. They then use plastic bags and buckets to store the collected oil.

RESEARCH

The Peruvian prosecutor’s office opened an investigation for the alleged crime of environmental pollution against the legal representatives and officials of the refinery. Fines could reach $34.5 million, he warned.

For its part, the energy regulator ordered the suspension of operations at the marine terminal where the spill occurred.

Communities of fishermen and residents of the area appeared these days in front of the refinery’s headquarters, demanding actions to stop the environmental contamination that prevents them from carrying out their work, and to demand responsibilities.

The La Pampilla Refinery has a processing capacity of 117,000 barrels per day, more than half of Peru’s total refining volume.

Repsol participates in four natural gas and associated liquids exploration and production blocks in Peru, with an extraction of 46,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, which represents 12% of the country’s production and 7% of Repsol’s extraction, according to data of the Spanish company.

This includes the Camisea Consortium, whose gas field -the most important in Peru- has 14.3 TCF of reserves, and where Repsol has a 10% stake.

KEEP READING:

Repsol will hire affected fishermen to help clean up the oil spillCongress will summon Repsol representatives and authorities to investigate oil spill in VentanillaRepsol: users explode against the company for the oil spill, its position and the cleaning with dustpans

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