FILE. The pollution alarm in Peru is growing day by day due to the dispersion in the sea, not far from Lima, of about 6,000 barrels of oil during a transfer of crude oil from a ship to the infrastructure of the La Pampilla refinery, operated by the Spanish company Repsol. The incident, according to the Peruvian media, took place on January 15, during the agitation of the Pacific Ocean linked to the volcanic explosion on the island of Tonga but, surprisingly, at the beginning the Repsol managers evoked the loss in sea of ”less than a barrel” of oil.
For reasons that are the subject of an investigation, many hours have passed without taking the necessary measures to contain the expansion of the crude that yesterday reached the coast from the sea, covering a thick black layer, according to the Evaluation and Control Body. environmental (Oefa), about twenty beaches in the El Callao area, including Ventanilla, Santa Rosa, Ancón and Chancay. For its part, the National Service of State Protected Areas (Sernanp) denounced the death of fish, birds and animals, as well as serious contamination of marine vegetation.
Peruvian government sources added that the incident immediately had serious economic repercussions for tourist activities in the area, and for fishermen who were blocked in port waiting for the extent of the incident to be defined. The President of the Republic, Pedro Castillo, signed a decree concerning an environmental emergency for the ecosystem of the affected area, ordering Repsol to take full responsibility for the serious damage caused.