Pipeline Ruptures in Ecuadorian

Amazon
Olivia Rosane
Feb 01, 2022

An oil spill in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Ecuador's Ministry of Environment

A pipeline has ruptured in the Ecuadorian Amazon near the site of a previous oil
spill, contaminating waterways in Indigenous territory and threatening wildlife in a
protected area.

The spill has impacted almost five acres of a nature reserve in Cayambe-Coca
National Park and polluted the Coca River, Deutsche Welle reported. Ecuador’s
Environmental Ministry called it a “major” pollution event.

“We see that it’s a high-magnitude spill,” environmentalist Juan Pablo Fajardo said,
as Democracy Now reported. “It’s believed that water sources and third parties
were affected.”

The spill occurred Friday night when a pipeline operated by OCP Ecuador split in a
rockslide following heavy rains, Reuters reported. The group Amazon Frontlines
posted images of the incident on social media.

URGENT! New oil spill in Ecuador on the banks of the Coca river, in what
appears to be a new rupture of the @OCPEcuador pipeline. Over 27,000 Kichwa
living downriver still suffereing impacts of massive April 2020 oil spill. Government
& courts did nothing. This is the result. pic.twitter.com/eTgwtO4kvv
— AFrontlines (@AFrontlines) January 29, 2022

On Saturday, the company stopped pumping crude through the pipeline.

At first, OCP Ecuador said that the spill took place in an area that was removed
from any bodies of water, as Reuters reported at the time. However, Indigenous
organization CONFENIAE provided early evidence that this was not the case.

“The impact of the oil spill has reached the Kichwa community of Panduyaku in the
province of Sucumbíos,” CONFENIAE said on Twitter Saturday, along with a video
showing crude polluting a river.

#URGENTE

La afectación del derrame petrolero llega a la comunidad Kichwa de Panduyaku en

la provincia de Sucumbíos; comuneros solicitan prevenir a las comunidades de la
cuenca baja y atención inmediata de las autoridades pic.twitter.com/rROIk6bhDH

— CONFENIAE (@confeniae1) January 29, 2022

Another video posted by Amazon Frontlines Saturday also showed river

contamination.

“The river is contaminated. Look. Thousands of liters are being spilled into the
river,” the organization quoted a witness as saying. “Thousands and thousands.
Thousands and thousands. The Coca River is contaminated. Oh my God.”

Devastating scenes from the Ecuadorian Amazon after

yesterday's @OCPEcuador pipeline bursted: “The river is contaminated. Look.
Thousands of liters are being spilled into the river. Thousands and thousands.
Thousands and thousands. The Coca River is contaminated. Oh my
God." pic.twitter.com/faofa6G5ip

— AFrontlines (@AFrontlines) January 29, 2022

In a statement Monday, OCP Ecuador acknowledged river pollution.

“We were successful in containing the majority of oil that flowed from the pipeline,”
OCP Ecuador’s Executive President Jorge Vugdelija said, as Reuters reported
Monday. “However, we are aware small traces have reached bodies of water, and
we are working on it.”

This isn’t the first time that erosion along the Coca River has damaged pipelines in
the area. In April 2020, both the OCP Ecuador and the state-owned SOTE pipeline
burst because of erosion, causing a major spill in the Coca River.

“Once again we have been polluted and we are fighting about it with OCP,” leader
of the Panduyaku community in Ecuador’s Sucumbios province Patricia Vargas told
Reuters. “The oil is already coating the banks of the Coca river and we call for
immediate action.”

The Ecuadorian government also said it had brought legal action against OCP
Ecuador and asked the company to investigate the spill’s impact.

The spill threatens wildlife in the area, including threatened species like the military
macaw and the Andean condor, as Deutsche Welle reported.

“Our staff are monitoring 210 kilometers (130 miles) of the Coca River and its
tributaries and coordinating containment and remediation where traces of
hydrocarbon are identified,” Ecuador’s Environmental Ministry said, as Deutsche
Welle reported.

Indigenous advocates said the spill was just another example of how fossil fuel
extraction harms Ecuadorian communities and wildlife.

“This is the exact reason why we oppose oil extraction,” Andres Tapia of CONAIE
told NBC News. “Spills have become a part of our daily life, and we live with the
contamination for decades. The oil industry has only brought us death and
destruction… We are calling on the government to halt oil expansion plans and
properly clean up this spill and all the others that continue to contaminate our
territories and violate our rights.”