Peru – Environmentalists warn Lima oil spill could have caused environmental catastrophe

Location: Lima, Peru

Language: Spanish

Duration: 00:06:10

Source: A24

Restrictions: A24 Subscribers

Dateline: 07-03-2022

Storyline

Experts and environmentalists have been warning of the grave environmental hazards caused by an oil spill from a refinery in the city of Lima, Peru over a month ago. The authorities have launched a campaign to clean the sea that was affected by the spill. Environmentalists and veterinarians have reported the continued loss of life amongst flora and fauna, warning that people are also subject to getting an infection by the chemicals. They lamented that the local authorities are not doing enough to tackle the grave issue that threatens the ecosystem in the country’s capital. Raúl Berenguel, who is a veterinarian, said that the spill has many consequences to the country, as the death doll amongst animals is still unclear. He said that the issue could be tackled with more concerted efforts between different national institutions, adding that the lack of coordination severely hamstrings the recovery efforts.

Shotslist

(Soundbite) Juan Melchor, who is a fisherman from Ancon:

“Fishing here in Ancon was improving because we already had suffered from the pandemic and things have started to go back to normal. This year, however, was supposed to be the takeoff after so much suffering and discomfort due to the pandemic and also for our economy to improve and get to the quality of life that we fishermen always had, but with the oil spill, we have been cut off from everything.”

(Soundbite) Raúl Berenguel, a veterinarian:

“The oil spill has had many consequences, many dead animals, this has not yet been fully measured. This will be something in the long term, but several animals and the environment are affected.

“As a State institution, I believe that actions should be more organized with other institutions to have a faster management and action plan with a quicker response. This time, there was a bit of lack of coordination at the beginning, but several institutions have already joined. There is already a great lesson, and we know that this has been a spill in the sea that kills animals, but also affects people because there is only one health on the planet.”

(Soundbite) Pedro Alvares, a fisherman from Bahía Blanca:

“As a result of me going into the water to try to solve the tragedy that’s going on here, they had already recommended not to touch the animals, do not have direct contact with them and to not go into the water. But the first time I went into the sea to see the dead birds here, the first thing I felt was a pain in my lungs. When I came back, I felt tired and the first thing I thought was that it couldn’t be COVID. I’ve even defecated blood, and who would check on my health? No one.”

(Soundbite) Stefanie Torres, who is the president of the NGO SOA Peru:

“There isn’t an exact number of fishermen and merchants who have been affected. At least there will be 3,000 families affected from artisanal fishermen who live from the extraction of fish to small merchants such as kiosk owners and small vendors who live off what people buy from them at the beaches.

“As soon as the spill happened, a coalition of civil society was created, where several other organizations are in Peru, such as Conciencia Marina, WWF, among others. Over 10 organizations are participating, and through commissions, we began to work on different issues. We the SOA Peru are more focused on the issue of youth empowerment and the training of young people in ocean conservation. In this case, we have prioritized collaborating with people directly as an objective since in these cases we realize how connected we are to the sea and how what we do to the ecosystem will end up harming us.”

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