According to the company, significant progress was made with environmental remediation after the spill due to the rupture of the pipeline, although there would still be traces of crude oil.
The company Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados (OCP) reported this Tuesday (February 8, 2022) that it had completed the works of pipeline repair and restarted operations after 11 days of having paralyzed the pumping.
The event occurred after the force majeure incident that caused a break in the pipeline in the Piedra Fina area, Napo province.
“We restart the pumping Yesterday afternoon, Monday, February 7, we finished the repair of the pipeline and we can once again transport Ecuador’s wealth to the port in Esmeraldas for export,” said Jorge Vugdelija, executive president of OCP Ecuador.
It’s a statement, OCP pointed out that it is prepared to receive and dispatch oil again and pointed out that the reception of crude oil has normalized and it has been possible to level with the existing reserves the days of stoppage of pumping.
Environmental remediation actions and social compensation are carried out according to the plan approved by the authorities and with all State controls, according to Vugdelija.
According to the firm, it achieved “significant progress in remediation, having collected more than 1,000 cubic meters of earth with traces of crude oil.”
On issues of social compensation, he reported that they have delivered 120,000 liters of water, most of it in tank cars, and food packages that comply with the technical standard of the National Risk and Emergency Management Service.
Likewise, medical days have begun to address basic health issues in nearby towns, he noted.
A pipe from OCP suffered a break on January 28 in the Piedra Fina river sector, after the fall of a large rock of more than two meters, causing the leak of crude oil that reached the flow of the Coca River, according to locals.
Last week, the company announced that it managed to recover all of the raw that had dammed up pools and began the remediation of the soil, vegetation and attention to the communities neighboring the area of the mishap, although he recognized that there could be trace contaminants in rivers in the region.
The Ministry of the Environment, Water and Ecological Transition of Ecuador reported that the oil spill caused an affectation of 2.1 hectares, mainly in a protected area. (EFE)
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