Peru declares climate emergency over oil spill

This Thursday (20), the President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, will sign a decree by which the climate emergency will be declared. Battalions struggle to contain oil spill caused by waves after a volcano erupts volcano in TongaThe damages extended to 21 beaches in the center of the country.

The spill was caused by anomalous waves, Saturday (15), along the Peruvian coast, hours after an underwater volcano erupted in Tonga, in the Pacific Ocean, unloading an oil tanker through pipelines to the La Pampilla refinery. , from the Spanish company Repsol.

As of Thursday, the area affected by the spill has increased, according to aerial views obtained with drones, to 1.7 million square metres, the Environmental Assessment and Inspection Agency (Oefa, for its acronym in Spanish) said in a statement. Land and 1.2 million square meters in the sea.

The agency added that “the dead birds have been identified.”

On Wednesday (19), the Peruvian government called the spill “the worst environmental disaster” in Lima in recent times, endangering plant and animal life in two natural areas, and demanded Repsol for immediate compensation for the damages.

Repsol said in a statement on Thursday that a team of divers appointed by it was exploring underwater damage from the leak, and that it had installed more than 2,500 meters of containment barriers, as well as 10 ships with brigades of 50 people recovering. The product is dumped in the sea.

“We regret that we were not adequately informed of all our obligations and the measures taken to address the impact” of the oil spill, the company said.