According to several Peruvian authorities, the oil multinational is clearing itself too quickly of all responsibility for the worst ecological disaster the country has experienced in recent years.
“Oil spill : suspicion of negligence on the part of Repsol personnel”, headlines the Peruvian daily The Republic. The Spanish oil company maintains that the spill of some 6,000 barrels of crude oil, during the unloading of a tanker in the refinery of La Pampilla, in Peru, was caused by the strong swell generated by the volcanic eruption below. Navy in the Tonga Islands.
However, several Peruvian authorities believe that Repsol “hastens to deny any involvement while there are indications of his alleged responsibility”, writes the newspaper.
“Over 60 agents of the National Police’s Environmental Investigation Directorate moved on the polluted beaches”, thus indicates The Republic. The boss of this directorate, General José Ludeña, “considers that negligent action by an employee in charge of unloading oil from the tanker Mare Doricum cannot be ruled out”.
Likewise, the Navy “denies that the crude spill was caused” by this abnormal swell that she would not have spotted.
The track of a bad maneuver not ruled out
In another article, The Republic echoes a report by the Supervisory Body for Energy and Mining Investments (Osinergmin) which “dismantle the Repsol version” according to the newspaper. The preliminary report concludes that “the rupture of the oil unloading system on the high seas, due to a sudden movement of the tanker Mare Doricum, could have been the reason for the leak”. The organization “does not indicate that this unexpected roll was the consequence of an abnormal swell, because it also does not rule out that it could have resulted from a maneuver by the crew”.
The experts of this authority asked Repsol to provide them with all the information at its disposal.
They also called on the multinational to explain what it had done to stop the leak, “because the hydrocarbon company informed of the spill of only 0.16 barrel on 15 January at 5:25 p.m. […]. It is now estimated that 6 000 barrels spilled.”
The Peruvian government declared, on Saturday January 22, an “environmental emergency” for a period of ninety days for the entire geographical area affected by the oil spill.
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Founded in 1981, La República is one of the most important daily newspapers in Peru. Of centre-left, this clear and well-informed popular newspaper does not hesitate to criticize the power in editorials written by personalities of the country
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