An oil spill has spread about 30 kilometers since August 14th, and affects the coasts of Carabobo and Falcón states.
Irene Revilla// Correspondent lapatilla.com
Fishermen and inhabitants of Boca de Aroa on the coast of the state of Falcón, have reported that since Thursday, August 15th, the shore of the town’s beaches are full of oil. This has resulted in the death of fish and other marine species that can be seen on the shores.
This situation began to be seen first on the shore of the Cayumar sector, but it already spread throughout Boca de Aroa. They fear that the black stain will reach Tucacas, Silva municipality, and affect Morrocoy National Park and its keys.
They do not know the origin of the crude oil, but presume that it may be a consequence of the proximity to the state of Carabobo and the El Palito refinery.
Fishermen from Boca de Aroa, who preferred not to identify themselves for fear of reprisals, told lapatilla.com that they are very worried about fishing and their boats.
“People here live from fishing, from tourism that comes to visit the national park, from mollusks, and this directly affects the fish, the mollusks, the sand is black. This is worrying, we do not want to experience what has happened to our companions from the Golfete de Coro who, due to so many spills, no longer have any fishing and their waters are polluted.”
He assured that this is not the first time that crude oil has reached the beaches of Boca de Aroa, so he calls on the authorities to urgently address this situation and clean up the area to prevent the crude oil from reaching and affecting the mangroves, keys and sensitive areas of the Morrocoy National Park.
For his part, the marine biologist and university professor, Eduardo Klein, who monitors spills all over the country through satellite images, reported on August 15th through his account on X, that the oil spill starts on the beaches of Carabobo, especially in Golfo Triste, and it is a 30-kilometer stain that threatens the Morrocoy National Park.
He explains that the origin is not the El Palito refinery farther east, since it seems to have come from a creek near ‘Planta Centro’. The supply pipeline to the Planta Centro Thermoelectric Power Plant, which is part of the National Electric System (SEN), crosses the area.
Likewise, electrical workers confirmed to lapatilla.com that the spill was indeed located at Planta Centro, and that it had already been repaired, and they have already begun cleanup and retrieval work in the area where the leak is.
It is expected that once the leak is closed, a cleanup will be done along the beaches that were affected by this oil spill, which, according to Klein, runs along at least 30 kilometers of coastline.
Other cases
Exactly four years ago, that is, on August 13th, 2020, an oil spill was recorded from the El Palito refinery, which affected the coasts of Carabobo and Falcón.
This spill affected approximately 260 kilometers of coastline, according to data from the Remote Sensing Department of the Simón Bolívar University.
On that occasion, the oil did not reach Morrocoy National Park, according to information from fishermen in the area, but it was already affected by one that had been recorded just 12 days earlier.
At that time, Josué Lorca, Vice Minister of Ecosocialist Management of the Environment of the administration of Nicolás Maduro, acknowledged that the oil spill that occurred on August 1st on the coast of the Golfo Triste had affected eight keys of the Morrocoy National Park in Falcón State.