The oil gushed out as soon as the huge rock exploded the pipe, workers say. In northeast Ecuador, crude that has been flowing for days from a rock-damaged oil pipeline is slowly poisoning the Amazon jungle.
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The blackish and sticky puddles have already killed animals and threaten local communities, AFP noted.
Thursday was a day of heavy rain, explains Cesar Benalcazar, a 24-year-old worker present in the disaster area, in Piedra Fina, just under a hundred kilometers east of Quito.
The Quijos river was in flood, large rocks fell overnight from the top of the mountain. One fell “on its tip” right on the pipeline. “When the pipe exploded, the oil shot out, like a pressure bomb,” according to Caesar.
All the efforts of the workers, jumping at the controls of their earthmoving machinery to contain the leak, were in vain.
“We tried to prevent the oil from reaching the river, but it cascaded down the slope,” regrets César. Didn’t have time to dig a hole or pond with diggers to collect the crude before it contaminates the river.
Managed by the company OCP, the 485 kilometer long pipeline which crosses a total of four provinces, transports to the Pacific coast nearly 160,000 barrels of crude per day from oil wells in the middle of the jungle.
AFP
According to the government, the landslide affected “four infrastructure pipes”.
About 21,000 m2 – two hectares – of the Cayambe-Coca reserve were affected by the oil leak. With an area of more than 4,000 km2, this national park bathed in water, springs and waterfalls, between high volcanic mountains and humid forests of the Amazon basin, is home to a very varied fauna and nearly 400 species of ‘birds.
The crude also flowed into the Coca, a major river in the Amazon that flows into a river, the Napo. This river and river provide water to many communities, including indigenous peoples. “Small traces (of oil) have reached the waterways,” acknowledged the OCP.
To date, neither the government nor the OCP have specified the quantity of oil spilled into nature.
However, in small farms near the pipeline, such as that of Benjamin Landazuri, the consequences of pollution are already visible, while indigenous populations and environmentalists fear a strong impact on isolated populations living further downstream.
“A stream runs near my house and there is a spring from which we draw water for our consumption,” says Mr. Landazuri. “We have already seen the death of a few chickens that drink from the stream,” he laments.
When he returned home, he smelled a “very strong smell of petroleum” which gave him a headache. He then saw the “sausage” shaped containment barriers above the creek.
By the very admission of the technicians who rushed to plug the leak, and who this beginning of the week continued their efforts to stem the advance of the black slick, the “contamination is long-term”.
“We have tilapia ponds here, water samples have been taken to see if there is any contamination,” worries Mr. Landaruzi. “Otherwise the OCP will have to compensate us,” he warns.
In 2020, a leak of some 15,000 barrels had already occurred in the same area. The oil had reached three Amazon rivers. Nobody had really quantified the disaster.
