Rubn Ramrez, Perus Minister of the Environment, stated that nearly 12,000 barrels were leaking into the ocean after a spillage at La Pampilla’s oil refinery. This doubled initial estimates of 6,000 barrels of oil, and has prompted new concerns from the government in Peru and environmental agencies. The La Pampilla refinery, located in Ventanilla (Peru), is approximately 30 km from Lima. It is owned and operated by Repsol, a Spanish energy and petrochemical firm. The spill was linked to the eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Haapai volcano in the South Pacific, which prompted tsunami warnings across the Pacific and caused the tsunami that struck Tonga.
The assessment of the oil spill’s impact is still ongoing, but Al Jazeera reported that more than 445 acres of beach and 1,762 acres of the ocean had been affected. According to conservation organisation Oceana, the oil spill is “devastating marine life along Peru’s Pacific Coast including guano birds, seagulls, terns, sea lions, and dolphins.” Large numbers of birds, fish and other marine animals have died and been washed ashore. The oil spillage has also prevented communities from fishing, which is a major problem for those who depend on it.
Perus Ministry of Foreign Affairs dubbed the oil spill as “the worst ecological disaster that has occurred around Lima in recent times,” and on Saturday, an environmental emergency was declared. Repsol has been blamed by authorities. According to the BBC, Repsol is under investigation by Peruan prosecutors. Fines up to $34.5 million have been warned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A judge also issued an 18-month travel ban to four executives of Repsol. Repsol disputes the charge and maintains that the spill resulted from the sudden and extraordinary anomalous waves produced by Tonga’s volcanic eruption. Communications director Tine Van Den Wall Bake stated that Repsol “did not cause this ecological disaster, and we cannot say who is responsible.”
Repsols claims were rebuffed by Mirtha Vsquez of Peru, the Prime Minister of Peru. Mirtha Vsquez stated in a statement that Repsol had not prepared for such a scenario. Oceana released a statement claiming that “the disaster could have been prevented if the ship would not have ignored tsunami warnings along the entire Pacific coast following the underwater volcano eruption near Tonga.”
Although investigations into the oil-spill accident are ongoing, these results should be released within the next few weeks. All those responsible for the disaster’s causes must be held responsible. The consequences of climate change are making it more common for disasters to occur in the environment. However, governments and organizations must be more cautious when confronted with warnings about the environment. To prevent similar future events, they must develop contingency plans.
