The company attributed the accident to waves caused by the volcanic eruption in Tonga.
This Friday, the Peruvian government announced that the amount of crude oil spilled into the sea in Peru was double what had been reported so far.
“We have a figure so far of 11,900 barrels” dumped into the sea on January 15, instead of the 6,000 reported so far, Environment Minister Rubén Ramírez said at a press conference.
This is what we know about the oil spill in Peru, an ecological disaster that could have been prevented.
Repsol’s second oil spill in January
A second leak of crude oil off the coast of Peru occurred on Tuesday while work was being carried out on an underwater pipeline of the refinery of the Spanish company Repsol to investigate the causes of the large spill on January 15, the Peruvian government reported on Wednesday.
“The new spill would have occurred on January 25 when work was being carried out prior to the removal of the PLEM (Pipeline End Manifolds, the end of the pipeline), which is an underwater collection and distribution equipment” from the refinery to the ships, he indicated in a statement issued by the Environmental Assessment and Control Agency (OEFA), of the Ministry of the Environment, without specifying the amount of crude oil discharged into the sea.
What caused the oil spill off the coast of Peru?
The spill of the barrels of crude oil, described as an “ecological disaster” by the government, occurred while the Italian-flagged tanker “Mare Doricum” was unloading at the La Pampilla refinery in Ventanilla, 30 km north of Lima, in owned by Repsol. The company attributed the accident to waves caused by the volcanic eruption in Tonga.
The eruption of the volcano in Tonga leaves two dead and damage to its surroundings
‘Ecological disaster’ or negligence?
La Pampilla is the largest refinery in Peru and represents 54% of its refining capacity.
Prosecutor Tamara Gonzales said executives failed to fulfill their “functional responsibilities” after the January 15 oil spill, which contaminated up to 90 miles (140 km) of coastline.
The crime of environmental damage carries a minimum prison sentence of no less than four years and no more than six, the prosecutor said.