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News > Latin America

25 Peruvian Beaches Are Still Contaminated by Repsol Oil Spill

  • Peruvian workers collect oil-contaminated sand, Aug., 2022.

    Peruvian workers collect oil-contaminated sand, Aug., 2022. | Photo: Twitter/ @PrensaMercosur

Published 15 August 2022
Opinion

On January 15, the Mare Doricum ship was unloading oil from the La Pampilla refinery. Some 11,900 barrels of crude oil were dumped into the Pacific Ocean.

On Monday, Peru's Environmental Ministry announced that 25 beaches and 2 capes located north of Lima City are still contaminated by the oil spill that occurred in a refinery operated by the transnational company Repsol.

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So far, the Environmental Assessment and Enforcement Agency (OEFA) has evaluated the status of 35 beaches and 5 capes, of which only 10 beaches and 3 capes are hydrocarbons free. This office will evaluate a total of 97 sites ranging from La Pampilla beach located in the Ventanilla municipality, to Punta Salinas beach located in the Huaura province.

The environmental authorities have imposed seven coercive fines on Repsol for an amount of approximately US$735,000, which has already been paid. In addition, they also opened six administrative procedures against the company.

One of these procedures determined Repsol's administrative liability and imposed a fine of over US$1.3 million on the Spain-based company.

The National Service of Protected Natural Areas (SERNANP) also initiated two administrative proceedings against Repsol for contamination of biological diversity in the Ancon Reserved Zone and in the Guaneras Islands Reserve System. These proceedings, which could carry a fine of almost US$12 million, are expected to be completed in September.

The spill took place on January 15, when the Mare Doricum ship was unloading crude oil from the La Pampilla refinery. The United Nations described this industrial accident as "the worst ecological disaster" in the history of this South American country. While the Peruvian authorities maintain that 11,900 barrels of crude oil were dumped into the Pacific Ocean, the Spanish company affirms that there were only about 10,396 barrels of crude oil.

The Institute for the Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI) sues Repsol for US$3 billion for direct damages caused by the spill and for US$1.5 billion for moral damages to consumers, users, and inhabitants.

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