More oil is leaking into the waters surrounding the Oaxaca port of Salina Cruz after a ship collided with a wharf in a sudden squall on Monday.
The oil tanker Fedro Majuro was loading at the Antonio Dovalí Jaime oil refinery when a sudden gust of wind pushed the vessel into the wharf.
The tanker and parts of the onshore infrastructure were damaged as well as underwater pipelines, from which the oil leaked.
An “immense black stain” extends along a stretch of coast at the town of Salinas del Marqués, reported the newspaper Noticias.
Local fishermen said they were worried because they felt the state-run oil company had not fully addressed the oil spill.
Yesterday, a collective of indigenous towns demanded the intervention of the federal Agency for Energy Security and the Environment (ASEA).
Pemex said its personnel responded immediately to retrieve the spilled oil but has offered no information regarding the amount of fuel that leaked into the waters of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
Inspectors from the Navy and the environmental agency Profepa visited the area on Tuesday, but have not reported on the extent of the environmental damage.
Residents of the towns adjacent to the refinery have accused Pemex of damaging the region’s environment. Two other spills were reported to have occurred over the last two weeks.
On June 19, Pemex personnel started to clean up oil spilled a year ago but containers in which it was being stored began to leak, reaching a nearby lagoon and the town of Boca del Río, according to the newspaper Despertar de la Costa.
The Salina Cruz refinery was damaged in June last year during Tropical Storm Calvin, which caused flooding, an explosion and the spilling of fuel.
Source: NVI Noticias, Milenio (sp), Despertar de Oaxaca (sp)
