Dead animals on beaches in Peru after oil spill 1:12
(CNN Spanish) --
The oil spill in Lima, Peru, occurred more than a week ago, but the consequences are shaping up to be long-term.
This ecological disaster has even been listed as the worst in recent times in Lima due to the seriousness of the event.
What is next?
This is what we know so far.
Oil spill in Peru
This is how they clean up the oil spill off the coast of Peru 0:46
January 15
An oil spill occurred on Saturday during the process of unloading crude oil from the Mare Dorium ship, from the La Pampilla Refinery, after the strong waves caused by the submarine volcanic eruption near Tonga.
Some 6,000 barrels fell into the sea and the spill affects several beaches in Ventanilla.
January 16
Later, in a statement, La Pampilla Refinery, operated by Repsol, reports that the spill occurred due to "the violence of the waves" that occurred in the middle of the unloading operation.
In addition, he adds that the security protocols were activated "immediately" and that his brigades managed to control the incident.
advertising
January 17
The National Civil Defense Institute of Peru (Indeci) reports on Monday that the oil spill in the Ventanilla Sea, in the province of Callao in Peru, is under control.
Until then, indicates the Indeci, the control and cleaning of the coast continues in coordination with the local authorities.
Likewise, the Minister of the Environment, Rubén Ramírez, supervises on Monday the environmental damage that occurred in two beaches of Ventanilla (Cavero and Bahía Blanca).
In this sense, the minister says that there is "serious damage" to biodiversity, which can even affect people's health.
For its part, the Specialized Prosecutor for Environmental Matters (FEMA) of Lima Noroeste opened an investigation on Monday for the alleged crime of environmental contamination against the legal representatives, officials of the La Pampilla SA Refinery and those who are responsible, for "affecting the coastline with the crude oil spill.
January 18
Repsol pointed out on Tuesday that La Pampilla Refinery has been carrying out remediation work on the coastline and beach cleaning in Ventanilla since the start of the incident.
To do this, they had more than 1,500 meters of containment barriers that cover all the affected areas.
January 19
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru points out on Wednesday that the oil spill in Ventanilla is the "worst ecological disaster that has occurred in Lima in recent times" and caused "serious damage" to hundreds of fishermen's families.
Through a series of tweets, the agency considers that Repsol "must compensate this damage immediately."
The incident, adds the ministry, endangered the flora and fauna in two protected natural areas of more than 18,000 square kilometers such as the National Reserve of the System of Islands, Islets and Puntas Guaneras, Islotes de Pescadores and the Ancón Reserved Zone.
January 20
CNN visits one of the beaches in Peru affected by the oil spill on January 15.
Below, you can see the images and testimonies of volunteer rescuers about the situation.
Prosecutor's Office investigates ecological disaster due to oil on beaches in Peru 2:53
In addition, the Peruvian Navy indicates on Thursday that it is already investigating the causes of the oil spill.
In a statement, it states that, "before the information released in some media and in order to avoid speculation, the National Maritime Authority has opened a summary process to determine the causes of this incident and those responsible."
The statement comes a day after Tine van Den Wall Bake, Communications Manager at Repsol, which manages the La Pampilla refinery, told a local media outlet that the Navy's maritime traffic authorities had not issued any alert after the volcano eruption.
"We proactively consulted the Peruvian Navy Unit for maritime traffic to see if there was a tsunami alert. They confirmed that there was no type of alert for the coast and that we could continue with the unloading," said the official. of Repsol. "We would not have started an unloading in rough seas, for us it would have been ideal to stop the unloading," he added.
However, amid the controversy, a deal is announced on Thursday.
Peru's government says an agreement has been reached with Repsol.
January 22
The government of Peru informs that a state of emergency was declared in the coastal area affected by the oil spill for a period of 90 working days, and through a resolution the immediate action plan for the attention of this environmental disaster was also approved.
"This with the aim of guaranteeing the sustainable management of the affected territories, carrying out the corresponding recovery and remediation work to mitigate environmental contamination, in order to protect the health of the population," he says.
oil spill peru