Written by Ramiro Escobar
Wednesday, 21 December 2011 10:04
This has become more or less trivial news in Lima’s media or media in the Amazonian region: a ruptured pipeline, deposit overflows, a barge crash spilling hundreds - or thousands- of gallons of oil through the fields and rivers, leaving dark trails in the tropical ecosystem.
The last case occurred on August 6th, when Argentina's pipeline of Plus Petrol, located in Loreto (northeast region), suffered two cuts that leaked at least 1,100 barrels of hydrocarbon. The oil did not reach the river, but came out with such force that it hit treetops.
In Masha valley, also in the area of Loreto, the communities Saramuro and Trompeteros were hit almost a month earlier, on July 10th, by another accident where hundreds of barrels, from the American company Maple, ended up in the ecosystem.
The leader of the Federation of Native Communities of the Corrientes River, Andres Sandi, said that since 2006 there have been at least 96 spills. Of the 290 fines issued between 2007 and April 30th, 2010, only 111 have been paid. According to an environmental study conducted by the NGO Earth Rights, these accidents caused health problems that were previously non-existent or low incidence such as pneumonia, diarrhea and abdominal pain. Spills from the company Maple have caused this damage and it gets worse every time a larger accident happens.
|
Spills of significant magnitude that have occurred in the Peruvian Amazon since 2000
• October 2, 2002: More than 5,500 barrels of oil from Petrol Plus reach the river Maranhon with impacts for about 20 years
• May 7, 2007: In Bagua, a spill of approximately 6,000 barrels
• 2008: The Federation of Native Communities of the Corrientes River hold Petrol Plus responsible for 18 spills that occurred this year
• January 10, 2009: The rain causes, in the Barrio Florido community, four barrels of oil to end up in a gully where the locals fish.
• March 3, 2009: Spill affects several kilometers and is controlled by company employees from Maple
• 2009: Plus Petrol is charged with 16 oil spills that have occurred in the Corrientes River basin
• June 19, 2010: barge, Sanam III from Plus Petrol, ran aground in Saramuro (the Loreto region). Between 300 and 400 barrels ended up in the river Maranhon
• July 10, 2011: Oil spill in the pit of Mashiria (Loreto), on Maple ‘s company premises
• August 6, 2011: An alleged act of sabotage against Plus Petrol in Trompeteros (Loreto). Nearly 1,100 barrels were spilled in the ecosystem |
For Daniel Arancibia, WWF Peru, there are several reasons why spills happen: sabotage (which appears to have been the case for Trompeteros), a telluric incident (an earthquake, landslide) and neglect or excessive aging of a structure.
 |
At the heart of this problem, there is also a growing and menacing movement: 70% of the Peruvian Amazon is allotted for the purpose of hydrocarbon exploration, including in protected areas or overlapping indigenous reserves. In Peru it is possible to carry out oil exploration in a National Reserve, but not in a National Park.
Prevention and control
A sense of risk prevails among the people who live in the Amazon (indigenous or settlers) and among the most fragile are rich ecosystems. According to Johana Deza, also from the WWF, "there is not adequate control" that can accurately predict, control or anticipate the magnitude of these risks. Even Hugo Cabieses, currently the Deputy Minister of Strategic Development of Natural Resources, admits that Peru does not have "a policy of rapid and immediate response" to face these spills. One way out would be to conduct a monitoring plan for all of the oil facilities in the country, not just in the Amazon, but this does not seem to be in the government's plans. Until this situation gets resolved the oil will continue flowing, from time to time, through the already vulnerable rivers in the Amazon.
