Faced with the oil spill, Peru decrees an ecological emergency but does little.
The oil started seeping in. “Crudo” (“the crude”), they say in Peru. This black gold that we now know to be the poison of the environment. In the open sea, the crude oil slicks drifted over tens of kilometers – 140, officially. They approached wild islands, a national reserve famous for its great biodiversity. A breeding ground for protected birds, sea lions and endangered Humboldt penguins. The birds landed on the dirty water, dived to find their food, came back heavier. By force, “their feathers lost their waterproofing power, they stopped protecting them from the cold and they died of hypothermia”, saddens Giancarlo, a young Peruvian veterinarian.
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Every day, he patrols the sea in search of floating remains; he finds at least ten, sometimes thirty. And he knows it’s not over. According to the Peruvian authorities, some 512 hectares of this natural area are affected as well as the protected area of Ancon, which also shelters an invaluable biodiversity “over 1,758 hectares”. Waters full of fish, renowned for the profusion of their anchovies, an essential species in the food chain. Through them, oil accumulates in the stomachs of their predators and continues to kill. But death does not stop at the edge of the ocean. At the rate of the tides, it spreads over the sand which allows part of the oil to pass underground. This one then goes to the water tables, reaches the rivers. “The effects will be felt on biodiversity for at least ten years,” laments Jorge, game warden of the national reserve. The Peruvian government has declared a ninety-day environmental emergency in the affected area.
Read also:In pictures, Peru stained by an oil spill after the tsunami
The story could have been written differently. It is the result of a long series of negligence, lies, bad decisions, favored by a weak government in a country where corruption is high. It all starts on January 15th. That day, the Spanish group Repsol reported to the Peruvian authorities “an oil spill of 2.5 square meters and 0.16 barrels”, according to the Ministry of the Environment. A minor leak occurred during the unloading of the Italian tanker “Mare Doricum” at the La Pampilla refinery, about twenty kilometers north of Lima. An “incident quickly overcome”, declared the next day to the press the oil group.
Using a saucepan, a Peruvian recovers hydrocarbon foam on Los Pocitos beach. © Baptiste GIROUDON / Paris Match
Three days later, the first images were posted, which soon went viral. Ancon and Ventanilla beaches are covered with crude oil. Journalists arrive, politicians get involved, and Repsol revises its estimates: 6,000 barrels of crude oil have now spilled into the Pacific! Attracted by the promise of a meager salary or vouchers, locals are busy cleaning up the 21 affected beaches. The magnificent Cavero cove was “all black”, remembers a “cleaner”: we had oil up to our knees, we were wading, we didn’t know how to remove it. We cleaned by hand, without protection. At the same time, Repsol mandates companies to come, from 5:30 a.m. in the morning, to remove dead birds and fish on the sly so as not to worry the population.
Poor beaches: for the fourth government in six months, pollution is not the first concern, far from it
Accompanied by journalists, ministers come to see the progress. On the beaches, Peruvians, now hired by specialized companies under contract with Repsol, work tirelessly. They are protected by a suit, a mask, a helmet, gloves, boots. Using high-pressure lances, they lift the oil from the sand and rocks, pick up the dirty sand in wheelbarrows and collect the polluted water in large tanks. At the express request of the tanker, some, armed with rags, brush the rocks to remove the shiny effect. At sea, boats, guided by satellites, track the remaining slicks. According to the tanker, nearly 3,000 people work on depollution. Move along, there is nothing left to see ! Except that, joining the interrogations of the government, nine experts of the UN, dispatched on January 24, note a pollution higher than that announced.
Dirty sand and seaweed are removed in Cavero Cove. The pollution affected 42 kilometers of coastline, 21 beaches and 2 nature reserves. © Baptiste GIROUDON / Paris Match
Four days later, Repsol is forced, for the second time, to review its figures: it is now 12,000 barrels that would have spilled into the Pacific, or nearly 1,700 tons of crude oil. An oil spill and a new oil scandal. Specialized companies, such as NGOs, are prohibited from commenting on their work. No counting of dead or polluted animals. Apparently, no one to take samples. Repsol has never published the safety data sheet allowing to know the dangerousness of the product, a procedure however obligatory. No objective has been set for the level of hydrocarbons in the soil. On February 3, Repsol assured him: “In mid-February, there will be no more oil slicks at sea. In an optimistic scenario, operations in difficult areas will be completed by the end of March. In depollution, explains an expert in Lima, there are three phases: “Recover the oil at sea, clean the coasts and finally clean up. In Peru, Repsol is only interested in the first two. “They want to be quick and pretty, to reassure politicians and the press, warns this same specialist. But cleaning up an oil spill of this magnitude takes at least two years. However, as the government does not get involved, it is Repsol that manages. And it manages pollution like any private company, that is to say, it hides it. »
Will the Cavero Cove Cliff Cormorant survive? Thousands of birds, octopuses and fish have already been found dead. © Baptiste GIROUDON / Paris Match
In other latitudes, this oil spill would have been quickly treated and therefore contained. Not in Peru. In this poor country, but rich in its subsoil, power is unstable. On February 8, Pedro Castillo, a leftist president, appointed his fourth government since his election six months ago. The oil spill is not, far from it, his first concern. A boon for the powerful polluter – the offending refinery supplies 40% of the fuel on the Peruvian market. Repsol assures that the accident was due to abnormal waves caused by a volcanic eruption in the Tonga Islands, 10,000 kilometers away. These waves would have caused a rupture of the floating pipe which connects the tanker to the unloading quay. The government, which did not issue a tsunami warning, would bear the responsibility for the environmental tragedy. The damage should therefore be borne by him. Giacomo Pisani, the captain of the Italian boat, however testified that the sea was calm that afternoon. But, in a letter consulted by the Spanish daily “El Pais”, he pointed to no less than nine irregularities committed by Repsol. He noted in particular that the containment boom put in place by the refinery operator “was not long enough to cover the perimeter of the ship”, that twelve hours passed before divers inspected “the condition of the floating pipe at the origin of the spill”, and that the company refused to communicate to it the quantity of crude oil already unloaded, which would have enabled it to calculate the precise volume of the leak…
The Ministry of Tourism estimated losses at more than $50 million
The tanker is sticking to his guns and, according to “El Pais”, is filing a complaint against the owner of the “Mare Doricum” and his insurer. Peruvian justice has already banned four Repsol Peru officials, including its president, the Spaniard Jaime Fernandez-Cuesta, from leaving the territory for eighteen months. The latter will be investigated as the alleged “author” of the offense of “aggravated environmental pollution”, punishable by four to six years in prison. A fine of 34 million dollars could be imposed on the company. Not much, given the economic and ecological repercussions of this oil spill…
On the small port of Ancon, the pelicans wait in vain for the return of the fishing boats. It’s been a month since Jorge has been out at sea. The President of Peru has promised, he says, “1,000 soles per fisherman” (235 euros). The Spanish company assured to have signed agreements with the representatives of the profession, for compensation. But nothing has come yet. “These are just promises,” laments Jorge. During the three months of the summer season – from January to March – he and the other fishermen earn more than during the rest of the year. “Repsol doesn’t care,” he laments. Our misery is enough for them. He claims to work one day out of five to help clean up the oil at sea. He will then be paid 150 sols* by the tanker. But, recalls José, one of his colleagues, “it’s not compensation: we receive this money for our work”.
Nothing has been done for those who live off these seaside resorts. On the port, a dozen stalls face the fish landing quay. “Everything is empty,” notes Esmeralda, the president of these businesses specializing in ceviches, traditional dishes of raw fish. “We only open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, but we don’t sell anything. On February 12, Repsol told us that they would give us school supplies and vouchers to pay for electricity, water… But how are we going to feed our children? In a country already very weakened by the Covid, the Minister of Tourism assessed the losses, all sectors combined, at more than 50 million dollars. Faced with the resurgence of violent crimes, on January 27, a state of emergency was declared in Lima and Callao for forty-five days.
Originally a leak that could have been contained. In the end, a bad film where the weakest clink glasses. All in a country which, in 2022, still has no legislation adapted to crimes against the environment.
* In Peru, the average salary is 1,455 soles, or 342 euros.
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