Repsol has appealed more than S/66 million in fines imposed by OEFA

Repsol’s La Pampilla SAA (Relapasa) Refinery is considering challenging a fine of S/3 million 785,915 (823,025 UIT) filed by the Environmental Assessment and Enforcement Agency (OEFA), according to what the company stated to this newspaper. This would be the sixth fine that the company has challenged out of a total of seven sanctioning administrative processes initiated by the inspection body, which in total add up to S/70 million 246,709 only in fines.

“The appeal period is under evaluation regarding these fines, no action has yet been carried out and the company’s legal services area is evaluating it,” said José Reyes Ruíz, Relapasa’s security manager during a forum organized by the College of Engineers of Peru (CIP).

The sixth fine that the company seeks to appeal, referring to file No. 0246-2022-OEFA/DFAI/PAS, It is for breaching the administrative measure to secure the area, containment, recovery and cleaning of the hydrocarbon, according to the OEFA. In addition, today we know that a first appeal has already been resolved in favor of the company in second instance.

It should be noted that other authorities have also initiated disciplinary proceedings against the company. For example, the Supervisory Agency for Investment in Energy and Mining (Osinergmin) has imposed more than S/12 million in fines, several of them contested; the National Forestry and Wildlife Service (Serfor) has also filed a fine for more than S/7 million.

Assessment of the economic impact after the oil spill

Last January 15 marked one year of the oil spill in Ventanilla, considered one of the largest ecological disasters ever recorded in the Peruvian sea. In this context, A legitimate question is whether the State knows what the economic impact generated by this fact is, an evaluation that encompasses all its dimensions. The answer is no. However, the Vice Minister of Environmental Management of the Ministry of the Environment told this newspaper that it is a work that has been carried out whose report will be completed in 8 months.

“In effect, we are carrying out a study to determine and economically quantify the damage generated to the ecosystem as a consequence of the oil spill originated in the coastal zone of Mariano. We hope to have the results for the month of September. It is something that is already being done and we are fully engaged in this work because it seems important to us to identify the environmental damage and, above all, the economic valuation of the effects on the ecosystem,” said Vice Minister Giuliana Becerra Celis.

For his part, the president of the CIP Fisheries Engineering and Aquaculture Chapter, Elmer Nieves Valle, questioned why the State takes so much time to prepare this report and specified that, for example, to date there is no number exact number of artisanal fishermen affected by the spill.

“How much it is being affected, we heard the vice minister say that a valuation study is being carried out that could be done by September. It’s too much time. It is incredible that nothing of valuation has been done in this past year. How much is this economic activity (fishing) losing, how many people are affected, how much Repsol is responding with. You need to know exactly how much you lose and how much you must respond with,” Nieves said.

Finally, the engineer noted that the area affected by the spill provides direct human consumption for around 8% of the national total of fishery products and that from the Pasamayo area, which is where cleaning is difficult, crabs are extracted, among other species to market in markets and restaurants.