[Interview] Pablo Yépez: Impacts of the oil spill in the Coca River

In the context of the rupture in the Heavy Crude Oil Pipeline – OCP in Ecuador on January 28, 2022, and the serious long and short-term environmental impacts it will cause, the CEFO Indigena carried out an interview with biologist Pablo Yépez to understand the broad effects of this socio-environmental threat and the possible ways to reduce the impacts of this new oil spill in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

What does it mean that there is an oil spill in the Coca River?

The Coca River originates in the Ecuadorian Andes, it is very torrential and in these places of difficult access, with a river in constant movement, the oil is transported from the disaster site downstream, affecting natural areas (of extremely high biodiversity) and the people who live by the river. Something very important to keep in mind is that all this contamination due to oil disasters does not remain in the region or country, because depending on the amount of oil and swiftness of controlling the spill, impacts can be seen kilometers downstream and can even reach Peru.

What are the environmental and social impacts of an oil spill in the Amazon?

The oil from this spill is heavy crude oil, extremely dense and contains highly carcinogenic chemical components, which take many years to degrade in an aquatic or terrestrial environment, mainly affecting vegetation. Since the rupture occurred on a mountain and adding the pumping pressure, it has the capacity to shoot oil hundreds of meters over the native vegetation, which will suffocate this vegetation killing it or damaging the botanical components, It also affects aquatic animals such as fish, alligators, capybaras, manatees, waterfowl, etc. Animals are also sensitive to contamination, because as one animal eats another contaminated animal, this generates a problem of bioaccumulation, thus a lot of oil residues accumulate in living organisms, until at some point they could be ingested by people.

On the other hand, the social impact is serious due to the ingestion of contaminated plants and animals, since the main source of water and land for the surrounding Indigenous communities is contaminated. There are approximately 1,200 communities close to the point where the oil spill occured, downstream in the border area, that depend exclusively on river water. These Indigenous Peoples also see their crops damaged because the rivers flood the farms with contaminated water and in the face of an imminent need for survival they must consume those crops with high levels of contamination because they have no other alternative. These Indigenous communities live from what they sow, what they fish and what they hunt.

What would be the procedure to minimize the impact caused by the spill?

It is a difficult question without a specific answer, but many of these problems caused by oil spills can be mitigated by having a corporate responsibility on the part of the oil companies.

Let us remember that the effects of this heavy crude oil pipeline were initially promoted as an example of good technology, high control and minimal impact. However, today we see that this is not the case, since the oil has been spilling for almost two days without immediate measures taken to control it. This suggests that the technology promoted is purely promotional/theoretical and that it is impractical. On the other hand, it reveals that the government and the companies do not take accident mitigation procedures seriously, since until now there is no effective response from the OCP. Companies should have proven high-quality standards in order to effectively monitor mitigation measures and technologies to reduce these kinds of impacts.

There will always be problems, but immediate responses must be handled in the face of all types of disasters that significantly affect the environment and, even more so, human societies.

What tools exist to prevent these disasters?

A specific example is the EO100TM Standard for Responsible Energy Development that measures the effective implementation of components that mitigate and control problems that can occur in the environment of industrial, oil, mining, and other non-renewable resource extraction. EO100 is effective in ensuring that what companies mention is being adequately fulfilled. In addition, it is worth mentioning that some of the main points of tools of this nature are to ensure that companies verify their technologies, because when problems arise we see that they are not exactly the most appropriate. Also, another important aspect is that governments implement these tools to demand impact mitigation, in addition to having the ability to provide immediate responses. No less important is to see the places where this type of infrastructure has to be built, it is terrible that they run parallel to the rivers, that is where the state should intervene and force them to go a different path, since it is less difficult to mitigate the impacts if the spill is on land, because in the river it is extremely dangerous, more should be invested so that these things do not happen and a more suitable pipeline route can be created. 

Another example is community oversight. All citizens, grassroots organizations and Indigenous Peoples should have a greater voice in the sense that we are the ones who should be alert about these problems and seek that the governments of the day heed these types of calls.

Ecuador is an oil country, the oil resource keeps this country alive, however, with events such as the one that occurred, in addition to climate change that is basically caused by the burning of these fuels, it is necessary to consider migrating to other types of alternative energies.

Quito, February 03, 2022