An oil slick of at least 18,000 square meters affects beaches, protected areas and marine fauna in the Peruvian province of Callao, the Environment Ministry reported on Tuesday, after a spill that the refinery involved attributed to the waves produced by the volcanic eruption in Tonga. .
“We have been able to determine that there are 18,000 square meters of beaches affected by the hydrocarbon spill,” Miriam Alegría, president of the Environmental Assessment and Enforcement Agency (OEFA) of the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment, told the ATV television channel.
The spill occurred on Saturday in an operation at the La Pampilla Refinery, owned by Spain’s Repsol, during the unloading process of the Italian-flagged “Mare Dorium” tanker, presumably due to the violence of the waves.
“The damage is quite serious because we are also talking about protected areas that are being affected,” added Alegría.
The authorities reported dead animals found covered in oil.
According to OEFA, there are three beaches affected by the spill in the coastal district of Ventanilla del Callao, and two protected nature reserves in the Pacific Ocean.
The regulatory body indicated that the La Pampilla Refinery had reported an emptying of 0.16 barrels of hydrocarbon (about 25 liters) in a space of just 2.5 square meters.
“This does not fit with the impact caused on the beaches of Ventanilla”, pointed out, however, the president of OEFA.
The La Pampilla Refinery reported on Sunday that there had been a “limited spill” on the coast of Lima, and that at the time of the leak its security protocols and brigades were activated managed to control “the incident” the same day.
Brigades of workers in protective suits continue to collect the oil that washed up on the beaches of the coastal districts of Ventanilla and Ancón, north of Lima.
Environmental pollution crime
The prosecution opened an investigation on Monday into the alleged environmental pollution crime against the legal representatives and officials of the refinery.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the company La Pampilla reported that only 7 gallons of crude were dumped into the sea.
The ministry indicated that the company that caused the spill could be fined some 34.5 million dollars.
“Even this oil continues to affect the marine fauna. There are birds that we have been able to rescue, the ravages of this oil continue to appear. It is unfortunate,” said Luis Vargas, animal protector of Ventanilla, on the ATV television channel.
The National Forest Service (Serfor) reported that they rescued five birds, including three cormorants, covered in oil.
The Navy confirmed that the Italian-flagged tanker is anchored in the bay of the port of Callao until the investigations are completed.
“He is prevented from sailing,” the captain of the Port of Callao, Roberto Teixeira, told AFP.
The submarine volcanic eruption in the Pacific sparked panic on the islands of the kingdom of Tonga on Saturday, with a tsunami that caused waves of up to 15 meters, the Tongan government reported Tuesday.
Saturday’s eruption heard as far as Alaska, causing a tsunami that flooded coastal strips of the Pacific from Japan to the United States and also reached South America.
In Peru two women died the same Saturday when being dragged by the waves.
AFP