Fears For 70 Tribes As Huge Oil Spill Hits Ecuador

Story By: Jonathan MaciasSub EditorJoseph GolderAgency: Central European News

Fears are mounting for more than 70 indigenous communities in Ecuador following a huge oil spill after two of the country’s main pipelines ruptured.

Two pipelines on the Coca River, a tributary of the Napo River, ruptured in the Ecuadorian Amazon and spilled the equivalent of around 4,000 barrels of oil into the water, according to local media.

The spill reportedly took place 300 kilometres (186 miles) from the border with Peru and at least 70 indigenous communities have been affected.

Reports state the state-run SOTE pipeline and the Heavy Cruz Pipeline (OCP) operated by private oil companies ruptured and caused the spill.

The Petroecuador public company and the Environmental Assessment and Enforcement Agency (OEFA) reported a third leak in a state-operated refinery in the city of Iquitos.

Petroecuador said the SOTE pipeline suspended operations due to a drop in pressure following a landslide. The OCP said the rupture in its pipeline was caused by the swelling of the Coca River, according to reports.

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Both ruptures occurred in sections of the pipelines close to the active Reventador volcano in the Ecuadorian Andes.

The national confederation of Ecuadorian Indigenous communities wrote on Twitter: “Locals on the riverbank of the Coca River and other tributaries have reported the presence of oil in the water, putting at risk the water supply for many local communities.”

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According to the Ecuadorian government, the country’s oil supply has not been seriously affected.

Energy Minister Rene Ortiz said: “Export will go on as normal with volumes stored in (the ports of) Balao and Esmeraldas, according to the programme set up by Petroecuador.”

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