Network of artisanal fishermen calls for the cessation of operations of La Pampilla after oil spill

The members of the Sustainable Artisanal Fisheries Network (Red NOT) representative space made up of artisanal fishermen and fisherwomen, has issued this Friday, January 21, a statement in which it makes a series of demands to the national government in the face of the oil spill in Ventanilla.

The statement points out, first, that the spill represents one of the largest environmental tragedies that has ever occurred on the Peruvian coast, after learning that there are 6,000 barrels of oil that have spread to five districts and more than twenty coastal beaches. , as well as two marine protected areas.

“The person responsible for this environmental incident has been the company La Pampilla, owned by the transnational Repsol. Initially, the company reported that only seven gallons were spilled and that the accident was due to abnormal waves as a result of the underwater volcanic eruption that occurred in Tonga. But as the hours passed, it was found that the company provided false information about the spill,” the union said in its statement.

Given what happened, the organization has expressed its solidarity with the artisanal fishermen affected by the oil spill. They also demand the cessation of the activities of the La Pampilla refinery, owned by Repsol Peru, until they decontaminate the affected marine and terrestrial areas and biodiversity.

They also ask for public access to the Repsol Contingency Plan before oil spills, as well as the spill containment monitoring reports that the company must be executing. Along the same lines, that the Oefa applies the maximum economic sanction to the Spanish firm and, if possible, the operating permits on the coast be withdrawn.

The network also demands that the petrochemical company compensate the artisanal fishermen affected by the ecological disaster, which is not resolved only with the delivery of bags of food and that the State attend to the demands (economic, environmental and health) of the community. fishing industry and the coastal populations of the affected areas.