A new oil spill of 390 square kilometers threatens Pemex

The specter of a new oil spill haunts the waters of southeastern Mexico. A handful of groups, including Greenpeace Mexico and the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (Cemda), have warned of a new oil spill near Pemex's Akal-B platform in Campeche, which on April 6 suffered a burst. The organizations managed to detect the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico through satellite images.

Based on the information collected, environmental groups affirm that this new oil spill in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico has been active for 21 days, since the first images date back to March 22. The organizations estimate that the spilled oil covers an area of ​​390 square kilometers. The discovery of the great black spot in the ocean occurred from the fire on the Akal-B platform. “Once again, it is from an explosion on a Pemex platform that a spill not reported by the authorities was detected,” they point out in the document. Although Pemex was sought to find out its version of the events, no response was obtained.

“We demand that the authorities report clearly about the incident that occurred in Akal-B, its impacts and the measures that will be taken to prevent the repetition of these incidents. Likewise, we demand information on the actions to address the oil spill detected and to mitigate its impacts on marine ecosystems, people's health and the livelihoods of coastal populations," added the environmental spokespersons, for written.

According to their data, in the last two years the parastatal Pemex has increased the frequency of incidents in its facilities by more than 100%, while the budget allocated to maintenance has fallen by 49% in that same period. “At Pemex, administrative decisions have been made that put the accelerated extraction of fossil fuels before investing in security and maintenance of existing infrastructure. The consequences are visible,” the groups reproach.

Last July, organizations detected a crude oil spill coming from a Pemex platform. Although the oil company initially remained silent, it later minimized the spill, ensuring that only 58 cubic meters of crude oil were spilled into the sea, which is equivalent to 365 barrels of oil, and that it only affected an area of ​​0.06 square kilometers. However, UNAM researchers calculated that the two oil leaks in the Campeche probe caused a spill equivalent to 400 square kilometers.

At the end of last year, Pemex reported 235 environmental risks, of which 40 risks had been addressed, 69 are in the process of being addressed, 68 have a work program for subsequent years and 58 are pending program assignment. To address the inventory of environmental risks, a disbursement of 11,990 million pesos was estimated, which will contribute to the mitigation of the effects on soil, water and air.

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