Peru declares oil pollution emergency in Amazon region
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E-mail Xinhua, March 26, 2013
The Peruvian government had declared an environmental state of emergency in a remote Amazon jungle region, Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal said Monday.
The emergency, which orders immediate action to control the environmental risks to the native population of the Pastaza River basin, will last for 90 days, he said.
The region has been affected by contamination due to oil drilling by Argentina-based oil company Pluspetrol, and indigenous groups there have been complaining about the pollution for years, Pulgar-Vidal said.
The contamination included high levels of lead, barium and chromium as well as petroleum-related compounds, according to Environment Ministry.
"Constant (oil) spills" have been seen in the region for decades, and the sediment at the bottom of the Pastaza River is completely contaminated, said Sixto Shapiama, president of the Quichua Federation of Pastaza.
Pluspetrol, the biggest oil and natural gas producer in Peru, has operated the fields for about 12 years. It will be obliged to clean up the contamination, said Pulgar-Vidal.
"Pluspetrol began oil exploitation in the zone in 2001, but we know the company has behaved badly towards the environment," he said.
"At some point, the firm carried out a rehabilitation program, but it wasn't done correctly," Pulgar-Vidal added.
On Monday, the Peruvian government published environmental quality standards for the first time, setting acceptable limits for contaminants in soil.
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