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The Peruvian Ministry of the Environment reported that at least 11,900 barrels of crude were spilled into the sea and that to date they have only been able to recover about 4,000 barrels in an emulsified mixture of water and oil. For its part, the company Repsol, operator of the La Pampilla Refinery, reported that some 10,396 barrels could have been spilled on January 15.
During a press conference in which details were offered regarding the progress in the work to collect the spill, Alfredo Mamani, Vice Minister of Strategic Development of Natural Resources, indicated that the situation already affects the resorts of Ventanilla, Santa Rosa , Ancon and Chancay.
“The new estimate is 11,900 barrels, as the minister said. In addition, collected, to date there are 4,225 barrels recovered, but it is only an emulsion of water and oil”, said Mamani.
Additionally, the deputy minister reported that they are still in the recovery stage of the area affected by the oil spill, a task that could take months.
“We are in a stage of recovering all the oil that has impacted both the ground and the sea, later the remediation stage will just begin. This has to take some time, let’s say, a few months. We are receiving support from specialists and technicians,” he indicated.
Rubén Ramírez, Minister of the Environment, reported that to date there are 52 vessels in charge of the containment and recovery of oily material.
“4,880 meters of barriers have been addressed, already in the Chancay area there are already 1,000 meters that are preventing progress and harming more Peruvian brothers on the coast. We have 11 floating tanks in the sea, recovering oily material,” he said.
Repsol admits a spill of more than 10,000 barrels
In response to the declarations of the Peruvian Government, the Spanish company Repsol reported on January 28 that the amount of oil spilled in the sea on January 15 reaches 10,396 barrels of crude oil.
The new estimate is the product of calculating the missing amount of the nearly one million barrels that the Italian ship Mare Doricum was transferring at the time of the accident to the La Pampilla Refinery, located in Ventanilla.
The recovery work in Playa Santa Rosa continues. We signed a collaboration agreement with the merchants of Santa Rosa, who join in the cleaning work. In addition, we dialogue with the associations of fishermen and umbrella makers to find out their needs. pic.twitter.com/mxX2E74EOn
– Repsol Peru (@repsol_peru) January 28, 2022
Additionally, the company indicated that the exact amount of the spill will be confirmed once the crude oil that is still in the tanks of the vessel is received, which remains anchored in the bay of Callao with an order of immobilization on bail of about 39 million. of dollars.
On the other hand, Repsol assured that 35% of the spilled oil has been recovered thanks to the cleaning work of the sea and the beaches, this according to the “best estimates” of the company.
Finally, the oil company has stated that since January 15, the day the oil spill occurred, its only objective has been to remedy its consequences. To do this, it has deployed all its necessary human and technical resources.
On January 28, it was also learned that a Peruvian judge prohibited four Repsol executives from leaving the country for a period of 18 months while prosecutors investigate the cause of the spill. Among them is Jaime Fernández-Cuesta, president of Repsol Peru.
On the other hand, Peruvian media report that the government is analyzing the proposal to grant some 1,000 soles (259.7 dollars) to those affected by the situation.
“We are proposing, in coordination with the Ministry of Production (Produce), the Ministry of the Environment (Minam) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), extraordinary measures and one of them is the evaluation of a compensatory bonus of S / 1,000 to sectors and strata directly linked and affected by this situation,” said Roberto Sánchez, Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism.
With Reuters, EFE and Peruvian media