Chile: 40,000 liters of diesel spilled into the sea and talk about "environmental crisis" | Chronic

Some 40,000 liters of diesel fuel fell into the sea on Saturday night on the island of Guarello in the Magallanes region of southern Chile, US Navy officials said on Tuesday. # 39; emergency.

The spill occurred in a terminal of the PAC (Pacific Steels Company) of this island, located about 250 km northwest of Puerto Natales and about 2,200 km from Santiago, while one Fuel transfer was carried out ashore, next to the airport. coast, the sources told the agency EFE.

The environmental organization Greenpeace has called it "environmental crisis " the spill and warned that you can bring "devastating consequences"In the region.

"We must think that the area is extremely difficult to access and that it is an area of ​​great wealth of marine mammals, such as whales and dolphins, which could be seriously affected in their habitat", said the director of Greenpeace Chile, Matías Asún.

After the spill, the fuel sank into the sea, said Rear Admiral Ronald Baasch, chief of the Third Naval Zone.

"We received a communication from the CAP company about this fuel spill resulting from an oil transfer operation ashore, which then drove this fuel to reach the sea", detailed.

He added that the barge "Elicura" and the ocean patrol boat "Marinero Fuentealba" were immediately sent to the affected area, with a pollution control team that should mitigate the effects of oil spilled into the sea.

"We are deploying the measures at our fingertips to establish ourselves on the scene, make an initial evaluation of the facts and, as much as possible, mitigate the impact that this could have on the environment", the officer explained.

The incident was also reported to Magallanes regional authorities and local officials of the Ministry of Environment, National Fisheries Service and Prosecutor's Office.

Magellan Environment Secretary Eduardo Shiappacbade badured in dialogue with CNN that "most of the 40,000 liters of diesel are already contained ".

"The 40,000 liters are mostly confined, the company has got its hands on the sea where it has managed to capture most of the diesel, which limits the impact a bit"he said.

In addition, the Chilean Navy sent ships to badist with clean-up work and indicated that "At the local wildlife level, no damaged specimens have yet been found", according to local media La Tercera.

On the island, Guarello operates a PAC mineral processing plant, where about 40 people are responsible for processing and shipping the limestone they extract from the area.

Greenpeace, in today's statement, asks CAP "Provide as much information as possible and do not hide the background, as is unfortunately the case for those responsible for many fuel spills."

According to the environmental organization, the first impact of an oil spill is that it generates a film on the water that prevents the entry of light, which directly affects marine ecosystems .

In addition, he added, oil is highly polluted because oil contains highly toxic substances that, in the long run, damage "the reproductive and feeding system of species and other marine organisms".

The authorities also opened an investigation by a marine prosecutor, to determine the origin and the exact causes of the spill.