The images recall the disasters that we experienced in France with the Erika or the Amoco Cadiz: the blackened ocean, dirty beaches by oil… And dead animals stuck in hydrocarbons. Specifically, cormorants, and also penguins or sea lions, there are many on the Pacific coast of Peru.
In total, at least 18 km² are already polluted near the capital Lima. A huge metropolis of 9 million inhabitants. It is the coastal area of Callao, a suburb of Lima, next to the airport, which was hit. Ten beaches are affected, notably around San Lorenzo Island, located just opposite Callao. It was the tsunami in the Tonga Islands, on Saturday January 15, nearly 10,000 km further west, which triggered the chain disaster. The waves, huge in the heart of the Pacific, lost intensity with distance, but still created a strong swell that caused a supertanker to heel while unloading crude in Lima, at the La Pampilla refinery. And barrels escaped from the tanker to spill out to sea.
The problem is that the oil company seems to have tried to hide the facts. This is the Spanish oil company Repsol. She minimized the matter by first claiming that the leak was very small: barely thirty liters, less than a fifth of a barrel. As a result, no alert was really launched. For example, summer visitors continued to go swimming on the beaches. But little by little, oil made its appearance, social networks sounded the alarm.
On Wednesday, January 19, the oil company ended up admitting that in reality, 6,000 barrels escaped from the supertanker: 30,000 times more than the initial estimate. Nearly a million liters of crude. It is estimated today that 10,000 people have been exposed to pollution on the beaches, without realizing it at first. The Peruvian government is furious. He intends to claim at least 30 million euros in compensation from the oil company. A judicial inquiry has been opened for environmental pollution, against Repsol and those responsible for the refinery. But the anger also targets the Peruvian navy, which did not alert the refinery despite the tsunami risk.
In the meantime, the oil continues to spread, the oil spill is not under control even if the cleaning operations have started on the beaches. Hundreds of people are mobilized, marine barriers have been put in place to limit damage. Refinery activity has been suspended. And the government gave Repsol five days to stem the spill. But it looks complicated.