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Oil spill tars Peruvian seaside towns, leaves fishermen jobless
Thousands of barrels of crude oil that were spilled off Peru's central coast have taken a grim toll on the country's environment and economy.
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Aerial view of cleaning crews working to remove oil from a beach annexed to the summer resort town of Ancon, northern Lima, on January 22, 2022 after a spill which occurred during the offloading process of the Italian-flagged tanker 'Mare Doricum' at La Pampilla refinery. (AFP/Carlos Reyes)
T
housands of barrels of crude oil that were spilled off Peru's central coast have taken a grim toll: dead birds adrift in the sea and irate fishermen stuck on the docks.
Some 6,000 barrels poured into the sea as an oil tanker unloaded a week ago at the La Pampilla refinery located some 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Lima.
According to Spanish oil company Repsol, which owns the refinery, the accident occurred due to freak waves caused by the volcanic eruption in Tonga.
For fisherman Bernardo Espinoza, the disaster couldn't have come at a worse time.
"Right in the middle of high season they have gone and basically cut off our arms," Espinoza told AFP uneasily, noting that he and his colleagues were unable to work in the middle of the southern hemisphere's summer, when they traditionally sell the most fish.
"We can't work... we already are using up the last of our savings," added Espinoza, a fisherman for 50 years in Ancon Bay, 45 kilometers north of Lima.
The government declared an "environmental emergency" for 90 days on Saturday in the "damaged coastal marine area" affected by the spill, which is drifting north.
