The Peruvian government on Friday doubled its estimate of the amount of oil that has leaked off the country's coast, from 6.000 to 12,000 barrels, of which more than a third has been captured.
"Currently we have the number of 11,900 barrels" spilled at sea during the January 15 spill, compared to 6,000 previously estimated, Peruvian Environment Minister Ruben Ramirez said at a press conference.
On January 15, an oil spill occurred during unloading from a tanker at the La Pampilla refinery, owned by Spanish oil group Repsol, located 30 km north of Lima.
The oil spill was moved by currents up to 140 km north of the refinery. The oil spill caused the death of thousands of fish and seabirds and put hundreds of fishermen out of work. In mid-summer in the southern hemisphere, the region's tourism sector was also severely affected.
According to the government, more than 1,800 acres of coastline have been contaminated, as well as 7,130 acres of marine area.
"So far, 4.225 barrels," Deputy Environment Minister Alfredo Mamani explained during the same press conference.
Nearly 11,900 barrels are equivalent to about 1.700 tonnes of oil.
By comparison, the sinking of the Amoco Cadiz supertanker in 1978 caused the spill of 227,000 tonnes of crude oil on the French coast. In 1999, following the sinking of the Erika, 20,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil ended up in the sea, also on the French coast. After a month of clean-up, 115,000 tonnes of fuel oil and waste mixture were collected.
The refinery rejects responsibility and attributes the accident to the strong and large waves in the sea that day following the powerful volcanic eruption in the Tonga Islands, which caused a tsunami in the Pacific. Refinery officials say Peruvian maritime authorities had not issued a warning.
In a ruling issued Friday, the Peruvian judiciary banned four Repsol Group executives, including its president in Peru, Spaniard Jaime Fernández-Cuesta Luca de Tena, from leaving the country for 18 months a year to continue the investigation into the oil spill.
"The prosecution's request is valid," Judge Romualdo Agendo said during an online hearing, upholding this decision.
An investigation will be conducted against Jaime Fernández-Cuesta Luca de Tena as the alleged "perpetrator" of the offense of aggravated environmental pollution against the Peruvian state, an offense punishable by four to six years in prison. An investigation will also be carried out against the other three Peruvian officials as "accomplices," according to the prosecutor's office.
"We will continue to cooperate fully in any criminal investigation, as we are doing with the preliminary investigation under way," the Madrid-based Spanish group reacted in an email sent to Agence France-Presse.
"Our main concern is to clean up the environment. Repsol is concentrating all its efforts on clean-up operations as quickly as possible to move on to the affected areas," it added."
The prosecutor's office also said it was "necessary" to investigate the possible responsibilities of the heads of Peruvian public bodies that oversee shipping and oil operations.
Source: APE-MPA
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