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Posted: Sun Sep 2nd, 2007 02:24 pm |
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Oil spill threatens Puerto Rico coast
Puerto Rico's southwestern beaches were closed as an oil spill came ashore, threatening plants and wildlife.
Posted on Sat, Sep. 01, 2007
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BY FRANCES ROBLES
SAN JUAN --
Clumps of black tar washed ashore on Puerto Rico's southwestern beaches Friday, as authorities scrambled to determine the source of a spill that stretched some 30 miles along the island's coast.
Large patches of weather-beaten asphalt and parafin that appeared to have been in the water for several days -- if not weeks -- were discovered just off the coast of Guayanilla, some 15 miles west of the city of Ponce.
''It's really a mess,'' Department of Natural Resources Secretary Javier Vélez Arocho told The Miami Herald Friday. ``It's a moderate spill with heavy environmental impact.''
The U.S. Coast Guard and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources conducted inspections of nearby bunkers Friday to track the culprit to an incident that threatens endangered species, corals and mangroves.
Six public beaches that are visited by 100,000 people every weekend were closed at the start of a busy holiday.
''We're going to be cleaning this up for many weeks,'' Vélez said. ``It's so sad. It's such a beautiful area. Punta Ventana is heavily covered with an oil slick. To not be able to track the person who did this is frustrating.''
SPREADING
The spill was discovered some time either late Wednesday or early Thursday, Vélez said. First spotted in Guayanilla, by late Friday it had spread west to the lighthouse at Cabo Rojo, the far west corner of the island 33 miles away.
''It could be bunker fuel, it could have been a passing ship that dumped this,'' said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. James Tunstall. ``We take every spill seriously. This one certainly has our full attention.''
The clumps are not in one large slick, but rather in a number of large clumps that are from 20 to 50 feet wide, he said.
The majority is coming ashore between Guayanilla and Guánica, close to the Guánica Dry Forest, an area designated by UNESCO as patrimony of humanity. The forest is a biosphere reserve of 10,000 acres inhabited by more than 600 uncommon types of plants and animals, including 48 endangered species and 16 that are unique to Puerto Rico.
The substance threatens sea stars, queen conchs, octopus, manatees, dolphins, sea turtles and commercial fishing, Vélez said. Authorities already had begun to get reports of dead fish, and were ready to rescue oil-covered animals.
The last major oil spill in Puerto Rico was in 1994, when a tanker barge spilled about 750,000 gallons of oil on the island's Escambrón Beach.
''The water is dark and has dark purple stains that look like rust,'' said environmental activist José Sáez. ``When the waves break on shore, you can really see it. It's really worrisome.''
Authorities were at a loss late Friday to explain the substance's origin.
Guayanilla is home to several old oil refineries as well as other oil installations. Managers of nearby oil plants told the El Nuevo Día newspaper that inspections did not reveal any leaks.
Hurricane Dean sent heavy winds and waves into the area, which could have caused a ship to sink and release bunker fuel, Tunstall said.
SPECIAL FUND
Federal authorities tapped a special fund to hire contractors to begin cleaning up . Six teams spanned the area Friday using shovels and rakes to try to scrape the gunk before more of it reached shore.
Vélez said some patches will be easy to clean, but others are so close to the roots of protected mangroves that cleaning them would do more damage. Those areas will be left to dissolve naturally through salt water and bacteria.
''It looks like weathered dense grease,'' Tunstall said.
____________________
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Doug
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Posted: Mon Sep 3rd, 2007 04:54 pm |
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| Damn.
____________________
"Let him who has a free hand cast the first stone."
Dennis Miller, on the Pee Wee Herman public outcry.
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