Repsol case: Ministry of the Environment condemns oil spill on 25 beaches

Ministry of Environment (Minam)through the Environmental Assessment and Enforcement Agency (OEFA), reported that at least 25 beaches continue to be polluted due to an oil spill last January at a Repsol refinery in northern Lima.

The OEFA statement detailed that the current state of 40 seatsincluding 35 beaches and 5 points, and of these, only 13, corresponding to 10 beaches and 3 points, are free of hydrocarbons.

On the other hand, another 27 sites, consisting of 25 beaches and 2 points, are still suffering from oil, 7 months after the environmental disaster.

Total OEFA evaluates 97 sites from the beach of La Pampilla, located in the municipality of Ventanilla, to the beach of Punta Salinas in Huacho, and 57 are still under evaluation.

Administrative procedures

The supervisory authority added that so far it has introduced seven compulsory fines Repsol in the amount of 2.852 million soles (about $735,000), which has already been paid.

In addition, the agency opened six administrative procedures against the company and one of them determined administrative responsibility and imposed a sanction on the company in the amount of more than 5 million salts ($1.3 million).

Minam recently reported that in parallel with the OEFA sanctions National Service of Natural Areas Protected by the State (Sernanp) initiated two administrative proceedings sanctioning Repsol for contaminating biological diversity in the Ancon Conservation Area and the Guanaras Islands, Islets and Capes National Reserve System.

Those proceedings, which could result in fines of up to 46 million soles (nearly $12 million), are expected to end in September next year, the ministry said.

The worst environmental disaster ever

The spill occurred on January 15 when an Italian oil tanker Mare Dorikum It unloaded the hydrocarbon from Terminal 2 of the La Pampilla refinery operated by Repsol in the municipality of Ventanilla, located about 20 kilometers north of Lima.

As a result of this leak, which the United Nations called “the worst environmental disaster in the country’s history”the Peruvian coast received the discharge of some 10,396 barrels of crude oilaccording to Repsol, while the Peruvian authorities claim they were 11,900 barrels.

In connection with the environmental disaster, the Institute for Competition and Intellectual Property Protection (Indecopi) sued the company for $3 billion for damage caused by the spill and other 1.5 billion for non-pecuniary damage to consumers, users and victims, a figure to be defined in the judiciary.

For her part, Repsol, which she named “unreasonable, inappropriate and inappropriate” demand, provided the affected population with an emergency economic assistance mechanism covering more than 4600 peoplein addition to the agreement signed with the government to provide an advance payment of final compensation to the register of victims.

The company told authorities on April 13 that it had completed clean-up activities for 28 beaches, which it said were “declared clean and ready for appropriate monitoring and awaiting government approval.” (EFE)

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The legislator said that economic interests are behind the project, approved at the insistence of the plenary session of the parliament. On the other hand, MP Alex Paredes of the ruling Magisterial Bloc justified his group’s support for the project’s persistence despite the government’s compliance with the law.