An oil spill at a refinery in Peru during strong waves caused by the explosion of a volcano in Tonga last weekend was classified by the Peruvian government as an “ecological disaster” on Wednesday (19).
The Foreign Ministry said the oil spill had damaged animal and plant life in protected areas in an area of about 18,000 square kilometers around islands and fishing regions.
A leak from a cargo ship that was offloading oil at Spanish oil company Repsol’s La Pampilla refinery was hit by exceptionally large waves after the massive explosion of an undersea volcano in Tonga, about 10,000 kilometers away, triggered alerts. tsunami in the Pacific Ocean.
The Peruvian ministry asked Repsol to pay for the incident.
“This is the worst ecological disaster that has occurred in Lima in recent times and has seriously damaged hundreds of fishing families. Repsol must immediately compensate for the damage,” the ministry said on social media.
Peruvian prosecutors have opened an investigation against a Repsol unit over the incident.
Environment Minister Ruben Ramirez met with Repsol officials and said that around 6,000 barrels of oil had been spilled, according to the company.
Peru’s Agency for the Supervision of Investments in Energy and Mining (Osinergmin) said in a statement that it had ordered the closure of one of the refinery’s four terminals until the causes of the leak are determined.
La Pampilla is the largest refinery in Peru and supplies more than half of the local fuel market.
Reference: CNN Brasil
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