Peru threatens Repsol unit with fines over ‘ecocide’ oil spill

Peru threatens Repsol unit with fines over ‘ecocide’ oil spill

The Peruvian government said it plans to fine a subsidiary of Spanish energy group Repsol for causing a devastating oil spill that has blackened beaches near the capital Lima and prompted the state to declare an “environmental emergency”.

Mirtha Vásquez, Peru’s prime minister, told local radio on Monday that Repsol had to face up to its responsibilities and pay for the spill, which president Pedro Castillo has described as “one of the biggest ecocides ever on our coasts and seas”.

“They cannot argue they are not responsible,” Vásquez said. “They are, and therefore they have to think about the consequences.”

Last week Rubén Ramírez, environment minister, said the company would face a fine of about $34m. In addition, it will be forced to pay for the clean-up operation and might have to pay compensation to hundreds of fishermen, hoteliers and restaurateurs who have lost income due to the disaster.

The spill occurred on January 15 as an Italian-flagged tanker, Mare Doricum, was unloading at Repsol’s La Pampilla refinery 30km north of Lima.

Repsol said the accident was caused by “sudden and extraordinary anomalous waves produced by the volcanic eruption in Tonga”. The subsea eruption of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano earlier this month triggered a