The beaches north of Lima have been desperately deserted for 15 days, whereas from January to March, five million tourists usually flock there. For the past ten days, we have only seen people in protective suits trying to clean up the consequences of a gigantic oil spill. “
This is one of the most serious ecological disasters of recent years,
according to the President of the Council of Ministers, Mirtha Vasquez.
Repsol mentioned a small leak and they did not issue public alerts so that the population and the authorities could act.
»
On January 15, the tsunami triggered by a gigantic volcanic eruption in the Tonga Islands, 10,000 km from Peru, arrived on the coasts of the country. The Italian tanker Mare Doricum was unloading the 985,000 barrels of crude contained in its holds at the La Pampilla oil terminal, in the Callao region, about thirty kilometers north of Lima, the Peruvian capital. The first press release from the oil company Repsol, recipient of the cargo, referred to “
a limited leak which was quickly stopped
”.
According to the spokesperson for the Peruvian subsidiary of the company, Tine Van den Wall Bake, “
an abnormal wave broke the moorings of the tanker… What was visible on Saturday January 15 was a simple iridescence on the surface of the sea. This is why we have not implemented the operations (of control of the oil spill).
The product traveled through the bottom of the sea and appeared only the next day
”.
A total of 6,000 barrels spilled into the sea. "
We were not aware of the seriousness of the situation until the arrival of the hydrocarbons on the beaches
", acknowledged the director of Repsol Peru, Jaime Fernandez-Cuesta.
Consequences on marine fauna
The government has declared an "
environmental emergency
" for 90 days. 21 beaches are affected on about fifty kilometers of coastline. The nature reserves of Ancon and the Sistema de islas y islotes are also affected. The region is very popular with many birds and marine mammals, as their waters are full of anchovies which they are fond of.
The Legends Park Zoo in Lima is trying to save affected animals by cleaning them up, including endangered Humbolt penguins. But rescuing them proves difficult as they have often ingested crude oil. The hundreds of small-scale fishermen are reduced to unemployment for an indefinite period. The region is known for its ceviches, a specialty of raw fish prepared with lemon. Fishermen fear lasting effects because “
the baby fish are already dead. Most young people live by the sea and it is full of oil,
” laments Alfredo Roque, a fisherman interviewed by AFP.
Repsol initially defended itself, arguing that the Peruvian navy had not issued a tsunami alert, unlike what was happening in Chile and Ecuador.
The alert was only launched once the Tsunami passed, which killed two women, carried away in their vehicle by the waves on January 15th.
“
The state will be inflexible,
said Peruvian Environment Minister Ruben Ramirez.said Peruvian Environment Minister Ruben Ramirez.
There will be sanctions in accordance with the actions or breaches committed by the company
”.
Repsol faces a fine of more than $34 million.
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