Dead birds and unemployed fishermen two months after spill in Peru

Hundreds of dead birds, thousands of fishermen out of work and many closed shops is the balance sheet in Peru two months after the spill of some 12,000 barrels of crude oil into the sea.

The January 15 spill, described as an “ecological disaster” by the Peruvian government, occurred while the Italian-flagged tanker “Mare Doricum” was unloading crude oil at the La Pampilla refinery in Ventanilla, 30 km north of Lima, owned by the Spanish oil company Repsol.

About 150 people, mostly fishermen, participated this Tuesday in a protest against the company in front of the Spanish embassy in Lima, AFP journalists observed.

According to the company, the accident was due to the “uncontrolled movement” of the ship that was unloading the crude oil into an underwater pipeline of the refinery due to the waves caused by the volcanic eruption in Tonga, on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

“We continue to find dead and oil-affected birds after two months of the spill,” Deyvis Huamán, a head of the National Service for State-Protected Natural Areas (Sernanp), which reports to the Ministry of Environment, told AFP.

“Dead birds are taken to Cayetano Heredia University [in Lima] to determine the causes of their death with a necropsy,” he added.

Huamán explained that “the incidence of hydrocarbon has dropped on beaches” after the cleaning work by the Spanish company.

According to Sernanp, 349 dead birds have been found as of March 4.

In addition, “78 [live] birds have been rescued, which have been transferred and handed over to the National Forestry and Wildlife Service (Serfor) for veterinary care and subsequent recovery” in a zoo in Lima, the official said.

The affected birds mainly nested in the Ancon Reserved Zone, north of Ventanilla, and in the National Reserve of the Guanera Islands, Islets and Points System of Peru.

Among the species most affected by the spill are the pikeros, guanay and humboldt penguin, an endangered species

- “We are on the street” -

The black spot of crude oil was washed north by sea currents up to about 140 km from the refinery, according to the prosecutor's office, causing the death of an unknown number of fish, birds and marine mammals.

In addition, it temporarily left thousands of artisanal fishermen out of work and caused the closure of fish and seafood restaurants.

The Peruvian government estimates that at least 5,000 fishermen and traders from the districts of Ancón, Santa Rosa, Ventanilla, Aucallama and Chancay were affected by the oil spill.

“The spill killed our source of work. Now we are practically on the street,” Miguel Ángel Núñez, president of the Ventanilla Artisanal Fishermen's Association, told AFP.

Núñez indicated that the only support they received from the company was a 500 soles ($125) bond delivered on January 21.

“We are making common pots and living on donations and some savings we had,” said the leader of the beaches Cavero, Bahía Blanca and Costa Azul in Ventanilla, the most affected by the spill.

- Reopening of beaches -

According to Repsol, clean-up work in the sea and the north coast of Lima is more than 92% complete.

“We have 16 beaches, which are already clean, and we are awaiting their reopening for public use,” the company said this weekend in a statement.

The Ministry of Environment estimates that the spill impacted at least 1,400 hectares of sea and land, and some 500 hectares of marine protected wildlife reserves.

Environment Minister Modesto Montoya confirmed that the government will not give any bonds to those affected by the spill, but specified that the company will give them an advance of 3,000 soles (about 750 dollars) of compensation.

Eight Repsol executives are legally prohibited from leaving the country because of the incident, including the president of Repsol Peru, the Spaniard Jaime Fernández-Cuesta Luca de Tena. The others are Peruvian.

cm/fj/ll