Ecuador Oil Spill: Amazon Residents Are Furious as New Spill Reaches Coca River

Amazon residents in Ecuador are angry over the latest oil spill that has already reached the Coca River. Residents of Puerto Madero were among those affected by the oil spill that hit the Ecuadorian Amazon, Al Jazeera reported.

Bolivia Buenano, who joined a clean-up crew from oil transport company OCP, said residents could no longer take a bath or drink from the river. She further noted that no fish could be seen in the river as a result of the oil spill.

"This damage is not for a month, two months... It will be 20 years before things return to normal," Buenano said.

Buenano also complained about the lack of state investment in Ecuador's Amazon provinces, which hold most of the country's oil wealth but are most affected by industrial disasters like oil spills.

"This [oil spills] will continue as long as the pipeline and the crude oil network continue," Buenano noted. Ecuador's biggest export product is crude petroleum.

Fecunae Indigenous organization's leader, Rosa Capinoa, who visited the affected areas, also echoed Buenano's statement that what happened will not be "fixed overnight."

An Amazon resident said they were angry because they experience oil spills "every two or three years." The resident, a farmer in Puerto Madero, noted that the 2020 oil spill has put an end to fishing "for some time" and killed animals and plants on the islets of the river.

Implications of Ecuador Oil Spill

According to NDTV, a ruptured pipeline caused the leakage of almost 6,300 barrels into an environmental reserve in Ecuador's Amazon region. The said information was confirmed by the OCP, whose pipeline was responsible for the leak.

In a statement, OCP President Jorge Vugdelija said that their company is utilizing manual labor and help from machines to "collect traces of crude oil" found in the Amazon waters.

The firm noted that they collected and reinjected around 5,300 barrels of crude into the system since the accident on Friday. The oil was gathered in large basins deployed as an emergency measure every time there was a leak in the pipeline.

"We will not spare resources to comply with the cleaning, remediation, and compensation," Vugdelija said.

On Wednesday, Ecuador's Environmental Ministry characterized the oil spill as a "major pollution event," DW reported.

The ministry said nearly two hectares or five acres of a nature reserve in the Cayambe Coca National Park were affected by the oil spill.

According to reports, the protected area where the Coca River lies is known to house a wide variety of animals such as the red brocket deer and various amphibians. The said park also holds important water reserves in the region.

The Cause of Ecuador Oil Spill

Reports said heavy rains in Piedra Fina, the Amazonian province of Napo, on Friday caused a boulder to fall on a pipeline. The oil started to leak immediately after a rock hit the pipeline.

On Monday, the OCP said they contained most of the leak. However, the government of Ecuador threatened the OCP with legal consequences for the oil spill.

The company then pledged to supply clean water among Amazon residents in Ecuador who were affected by the oil spill.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

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