Venezuela: beaches closed because of an oil spill

Several beaches in theVenezuelan state of Anzoategui (northeast) are now closed due to an oil spill that covers miles of coastline, local authorities announced.

“We confirm the unfortunate news that our coasts are affected by an oil spill,” says the mayor of Lecheria, Manuel Ferreira Gonzalez, on social networks, without specifying the extent of the spill.

The oil stains, observed on Monday, are causing the death of marine species. “There are dead birds, small dead fish,” said Ferreira, who shared a video showing traces of oil covering the beaches of this city on the shores of the Caribbean Sea, some 320 km from Caracas.

Near the affected area is the Puerto la Cruz refinery, the third largest in Venezuela, with a processing capacity of 187,000 barrels per day. Crude oil leaks are common in the country, but are rarely reported by state-owned oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). The latter did not respond to requests from AFP.

The mayor, alarmed by the “level of contamination”, recommends not to approach the affected beaches because “the strong odors emanating from these residues could cause respiratory problems”.

Gustavo Castillo, director of the civil protection of Lecheria, says to the AFP that the personnel of PDVSA, in charge to face the oil spill, went on the spot, but underlines that they “gave no information”.

“Each oil spill causes a lot of damage to aquatic ecosystems, birds like pelicans are affected when they dive for their prey,” explained to AFP the biologist Yurasi Briceño, specialist of the lake of Maracaibo (west), cradle of the oil exploitation in Venezuela and regularly affected by pollution.

In addition to the noticeable damage on the surface, the oil “creates a surface layer that limits the passage of sunlight and therefore all the photosynthetic processes that take place underwater,” she added.