Peru has filed a lawsuit against Spanish energy company Repsol over the massive oil spill that devastated its coast in January, asking for $4.5 billion in damages.
According to the Peruvian consumer protection agency, the lawsuit was filed in the 27th Civil Court of Lima against six companies: Repsol (Spain), Mapfre Global Risks (Spain), Mapfre Peru Seguradoras y Resseguradoras (Peru), La Pampilla Refinery (Peru), Agência Maritima Transtotal (Peru) and Fratelli d’amico Armatori (Italy, owner of the tanker involved).
“These actions could create precedents for oil spills that cause collective intangible damages and losses due to environmental pollution of coastal areas,” said Julian Palacin, executive director of the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi), in a statement. released on Friday.
Indecopi has asked for $3 billion in environmental damage off the coast of Peru and another $1.5 billion in compensation from consumers, local residents and others affected by the disaster, the lawsuit says.
In a note this Saturday, Repsol rejected the lawsuit, classifying it as unfounded.
“The estimates (from Indecopi) lack the minimum necessary to support the figures indicated”, said the Spanish oil company, in relation to the 4.5 billion dollars requested by Peru.
The spill took place on January 15, while the tanker “Mare Doricum” was offloading crude oil at the Repsol-owned La Pampilla refinery in Ventanilla, 30 kilometers north of Lima.
The oil company attributed the incident to waves caused by a massive volcanic eruption on the island of Tonga, across the Pacific Ocean, and the Peruvian government described the incident as an “ecological disaster”.
The oil spill affected more than 700,000 residents, mainly fishermen, and forced the closure of twenty beaches and dozens of businesses in the area.
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