An estimated 6,000 barrels of crude oil were spilled off of Peru’s Pacific coast on January 15, after waves traveled from an underwater volcanic eruption in Tonga, 6,800 miles away.
An oil tanker was loading the oil into the La Pampilla refinery when the waves struck, moving the boat and causing the spill. The spill affected more than 193,000 square feet of the beach, according to estimates from Peru’s Environmental Evaluation and Enforcement agency.
The Peruvian agency reportedly said in a statement that Repsol, the Spain-based owner of the oil refinery ‘has not adopted immediate measures in order to prevent cumulative or more serious damage that affects the soil, water, flora, fauna and hydrobiological resources.’
Workers have been seen cleaning up the sand, and reporting from the Latin America News Agency via Reuters says Repsol has been cleaning and remediating the beaches. The spill happened in the province of Callao, near Lima’s capital, and has affected two protected natural areas.
Dead sea-dwelling animals have reportedly washed up on shore, as well as others that are covered in oil.
‘There is a massacre of all the hydrobiological biodiversity,’ said Roberto Espinoza, a local fisher who was protesting the spill.
‘There is a massacre of all the hydrobiological biodiversity,’ said Roberto Espinoza, a local fisher who was protesting the spill.
'In the midst of a pandemic, having the sea that feeds us, for not having a contingency plan, they have just destroyed a base of biodiversity,’ Espinoza added.
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