In the Napo region of northeast Ecuador, the nation’s second largest oil pipeline leaked tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil.
The pipepline company’s website described the leak as being due to ‘natural causes’.
American environmental scientist Douglas Beltman witnessed the amount of oil in the Santa Rosa river in the area and was quoted in a Reuters update, “The river was completely covered with oil from bank to bank.” (Mr. Beltman was generous enough to provide some photos taken of the spill for this story.) About 100 workers are cleaning up the area and a spokesperson for the pipeline company, Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados Ecuador, said the leak had been contained.
Ecuador’s environment has suffered a number of spills over the years. In 2002, the BBC reported that Ecuadoran activists told them spills have released more oil over the last 30 years there than the total amount of the Exxon Valdez disaster. An article published in 2006 seems to confirm the large number, “the country has reported 117 oil spills.”
Image Credit: Douglas Beltman, Stratus Consulting
[Source: Bloomberg]
Awesome
Remember kids, the Major Oil Companies have explained very carefully to us all: oil is our friend, oil is good, oil doesn’t make the climate change, oil doesn’t make the air dirty, oil makes people MONEY!
And MONEY, kids, is ALL that’s important.
This is only one of the many incidences over the years polluting our waters that increase the need for all countries of the world to wane away from the use of oil for their energy source. We must embark on a crash program to switch to “Renewable Energy Sources”.
I would like to see the people responisble for these things, soaked in crude and left of the sea and river shores affected. One person for every creature killed by the spill, starting at the top level of the Oil company directors and executives and working down through middle management to the very last employee.
The problem is that the blame must be laid at my feet too, as a consumer of the filthy stuff.
The country has reported 117 oil spills. ………. FFS!