At least nine oil spills and leakages recorded in 2012

In the first half of 2012, reports and complaints about spills and leakages of oil and related substances have been amassed.

A recount of the events notified by state-run oil holding Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) or its workers shows that the break of a diesel pipeline and an oil spill this week adds to at least nine significant spills or leakages of oil or chemical products.

The most traumatic event occurred on February 4. A broken oil pipeline at Jusepín Industrial Complex in eastern Monagas state polluted River Guarapiche with crude oil. As a result, water supply to Maturín, the state capital city, stopped for one and a half month. The spill, estimated by some sources at 10,000 barrels of crude oil, contaminated more than 70 kilometers in the river.

A report produced to the Attorney General Office notes that Pdvsa lacked trained staff to implement the contingency plan.

Concomitantly with the efforts made to contain the oil spill in Jusepín, indigenous communities in Freites municipality, Anzoátegui state, complained about an oil spill over River Tascabaña. Pdvsa authorities affirmed that the event damaged about 300 meters. Nevertheless, Freites Municipal Council contended that damages covered five kilometers.

Spills have also happened in Anzoátegui state. In mid April, Pdvsa reported that at Nipa-9, a discharge station located in San Tomé, a process water pit composed of 98% of water and 2% of crude oil overflowed. According to the state-run oil company, "the fluid fitfully traveled across Mapiricurito stream and was retained in the run." Therefore, "the contingency plan was implemented in record time."

At Jose Terminal in Anzoátegui state, in early March, there was a small oil spill when the joints of oil hoses failed during the loading of an oil tanker.

Translated by Conchita Delgado