Peru Govt. demands compensation from Repsol over oil spill

Jan 21, 2022 News

– company says “not my fault, it was an accident”

Kaieteur News – Peru’s officials are demanding that Spanish oil giant, Repsol compensate the country for the ‘ecological disaster’ which was caused by an oil spill from one of the company’s refinery, the La Pampilla.

Images from the aftermath of the oil spill. [Photo credits: Getty Images, AFP, and Reuters]

The devastating oil spill from the La Pampilla refinery occurred on Saturday last off the coast of Ventanilla in the region of Lima, Peru and was reportedly caused by the shock waves from an undersea volcanic eruption near Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean.
At the time of the undersea eruption, Suezmax tanker Mare Doricum was unloading a shipment of Brazilian crude oil at one of the La Pampilla refinery’s offshore mooring buoys, and as such a quantity of the cargo was released, the Maritime Executive reported.
The company has since denied being responsible for the effects of the oil spill, and even stated that what happened was an accident. Peru’s Foreign Ministry in a tweet stated that the oil spill in Ventanilla is the worst ‘ecological disaster’ that has occurred in Lima in recent times. According to the Ministry’s tweet the oil spill has not only caused serious damage to hundreds of fishermen’s families, but also endangered the country’s flora and fauna in the area.
“This terrible situation has endangered the flora and fauna in two protected natural areas of more than 18,000 square kilometers, such as the National Reserve of the System of Islands, Islets and Puntas Guaneras, Islotes de Pescadores and the Ancón Reserved Zone,” the Ministry tweeted.
Also, Repsol reported that the oil spill was only equivalent to 0.16 barrels of oil, but when an investigation was done by Peru’s Agency for Environmental Assessment and Enforcement (OEFA); it revealed that the spill was equivalent to 6,000 barrels – this is according to a tweet by Congresswoman Adriana Tuleda, of the Avanza Pais party. In fact, she also stated that Repsol’s discrepancy is unacceptable due to serious impact the oil spill has on the environment.
It is for these reasons that she stated, “The sanction must be strict and the company must be held responsible for what happened.”
While, Congressman Waldemar Cerrón Rojas tweeted that according to Article 68 of the Political Constitution of Peru, the State is obliged to promote the conservation of biological diversity. He noted that it is opportune for the State to review contracts and determine the sanction of those responsible for the pollution of their sea.

Moreover, Mayor of the town of Ventanilla, Pedro Spadaro told Exitosa, that he was outraged by the level of assistance Repsol has provided, to assist in the cleanup of the oil spill. He noted that from his account the company has dispatched a force of 15 people to manually clean up a beachfront of about two and a half miles in length.
Mayor Spadaro told Exitosa, “This is a mockery; it is not possible that nothing has been done in three days. The oil is already [12 inches] below the sand.”
With over 6,000 barrels of oil spilled, Peru’s Foreign Ministry has demanded that Repsol “compensate this damage immediately.”
Nevertheless, Repsol’s Communications Director, Tine Van Den Wall Bake, during a radio programme on Wednesday on ‘RPP Noticias’, denied that the company is responsible for the damages the oil spill caused and noted, “We did not cause this ecological disaster and we cannot say who is responsible.”
For this reason, Prime Minister Mirtha Vásquez, stated that it appears as though Repsol did not have a contingency plan to deal with a large oil spill.

Tweet made by Peru’s Foreign Ministry.

Similar sentiments were noted in a report by RPP Noticias. The outlet reported that the Minister of the Environment, Rubén Ramirez, pointed out that Repsol is responsible for what happened and that the contingency plan the company deployed in response to the oil spill was not correct.

An oil spill contingency plan is a detailed oil spill response and removal plan that addresses controlling, containing, and recovering an oil discharge in quantities that may be harmful to navigable waters or adjoining shorelines.
Additionally, the Latin Post reported that on Tuesday, dozens of Peru’s fishermen gathered outside the country’s main refinery in Callao, Lima to protest the aftermath of the oil spill. The outlet reported that according to the police, the fishermen carried signs that read “no to ecological crime,” economically affected families,” and “Repsol killer of marine fauna.”
According to Anthony Chumpitaz, a representative, of the Association of Artisanal Fishermen (ASPE-FAEA), during a meeting with Repsol, the company stated that, “it is not their responsibility and that it was something fortuitous due to the wave issue.” This was reported by the RPP Noticias.
Meanwhile, on Monday prosecutors opened an investigation into Repsol’s environmental contamination and as such the company could face a fine of up to $34.5 million.