Nearly 6,300 barrels of oil spilled into an environmental reserve in the Ecuadorian Amazon after an oil pipeline ruptured late last week in this region of northeastern Ecuador, the private company OCP announced on Wednesday.
Of these 6,300 barrels, or more than one million liters, OCP “collected and reinjected 5,300 barrels of crude oil into the system”, or 84% of the crude spilled, according to OCP, which manages this pipeline.
The oil was collected in retention ponds set up in the area of the incident.
“We have machinery and personnel in the area who are collecting the traces of crude oil identified in the river,” added OCP President Jorge Vugdelija, quoted in a company statement.
About 21,000m2 of the Cayambe-Coca reserve were affected by the oil leak, after the rupture of an oil pipeline caused by a rock fall.
The crude also flowed into the Coca, a major river in the Amazon that flows into a river, the Napo.
This river and river provide water to many communities, including indigenous peoples.
With an area of more than 4000 km2, Cayambe-Coca National Park straddles four provinces, in an area of mountains and humid forests in the Amazon basin, between 600 and 5790 meters above sea level. It takes its name from Cayambe, a volcano, and the Coca River which crosses its territory.