Chile's largest steel mining group dumped 40,000 liters of diesel into the Pacific

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, marine authorities announced today. emergency control measures.

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 coast, the sources told Efe Agency.

The environmentalist organization Greenpeace called the spill an "environmental crisis" and warned that it could have "devastating consequences" in the region.

"You have to 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 Matías Asún, director of Greenpeace Chile.

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 CAP about this fuel spill resulting from an onshore oil transfer operation, which then drove this fuel to sea," he said.

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 within our reach to establish ourselves on the scene, to make an initial evaluation of the facts and, as far as possible, to mitigate the impact that this could have on the environment", explained the responsible.

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

On the island of Guarello, there is a PAC mineral processing plant, where about 40 people are responsible for processing and shipping existing limestone.

Greenpeace, in its statement today, asked the PAC company to "provide as much information as possible and not hide the background, which is unfortunately the case of 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, serious pollution is occurring, as petroleum contaminants are highly toxic, "in the long run, it damages 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.

Pacific Women's Company S.A. C is the largest mining group of iron and steel in Chile. Its iron production is mainly exported to countries such as China, Japan and Bahrain.