1 month after oil spill, Lima's beaches empty, cleanup slow
ABC News
Dozens of beaches near Lima are deserted and thousands of fishermen remain without work, one month after an oil spill at a refinery created what the United Nations called the worst ecological disaster in Peru’s recent history
LIMA, Peru -- Dozens of beaches near Lima were deserted and thousands of fishermen remained without work Tuesday, one month after an oil spill at a refinery created what the United Nations called the worst ecological disaster in Peru’s recent history.
Clean up of the oil is going slowly, with Peruvian authorities saying that less than a quarter of the 11,900 barrels spilled into Pacific Ocean on Jan. 15 has been collected. Spanish oil company Repsol says only 10,300 barrels spilled that day at its La Pampilla refinery in front of Peru's capital.
Environment Minister Modesto Montoya on Monday said that 2,000 barrels have been recovered. Repsol did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the number of barrels collected.
Chocolate-colored foam bobs on the waters in front of Lima, its appearance a product of the “physical-chemical” reaction between the spilled oil and moving seawater, said Montoya, citing experts from a U.N. multidisciplinary team that has analyzed the spill.
