LIMA (Reuters) – Peru’s government declared a state of environmental emergency on Thursday in the northern coastal region, where state oil company Petroperu spilled a shipment into the surrounding waters of the Pacific Ocean last weekend.
A ship carrying out pre-delivery maneuvers caused the spill on Saturday at the terminal of Peru’s Talara refinery in northern Peru.
Petroper did not say how much crude oil spilled into the sea, but Peru’s environmental organization OEFA said in a preliminary report that about 10,000 square meters of surface seawater had been affected, and the environment ministry said at least seven beaches had been affected, as well as local wildlife.
Peru’s environment ministry said the 90-day state of emergency was aimed at “guaranteeing sustainable management of the area and carrying out recovery and rehabilitation works to mitigate environmental contamination”.
Petroperu said on Wednesday that it had deployed cleanup crews since the spill and was coordinating with the fishermen’s union and local authorities so that local economic and tourism activities could resume as normal.
Petroperu said in a statement that it is maintaining clean-up personnel, ships and drones in the affected area to “carry out preventive surveillance to guarantee early detection of any eventuality”.
Local authorities say the spill has damaged coastal plants and animals such as crabs, while fishermen say the spill has prevented them from working.
“We haven’t been able to get out for six days,” fisherman Martin Pasos told local radio RPP. “What happened in Lobitos is chaos. So far we have not received any response from the oil company.”
