Peru: an oil spill causes an ecological and economic disaster

Oil-blackened birds. Marine animals have been swept away by a wave of oil in Peru. And in a nature reserve near Lima, the country’s capital, volunteers equipped with coveralls and masks clean the beaches in a chemical mist. Heat releases toxic fumes. With these conditions, it is a particularly difficult job.

How could those 6,000 barrels fall from a tanker which was moored during an unloading on Saturday January 15? It was the strong swell caused by the volcanic eruption on the Tonga Islands more than 10,000 km away that caused the moorings to break. Results, it is more than a million liters of oil which pours on the coasts. And for the fishermen, very numerous in the region, it is a real economic disaster. Faced with the anger of the population, the Peruvian government and the Spanish oil company transfer the responsibility.