MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Oil spill in Uruguay's most fashionable beach under control

Uruguayan emergency teams are working this weekend round the clock to clean the sandy beach of the country's most exclusive sea-resort which suffered the consequences of an oil spill of an estimated 15.000 liters of crude.

The Norwegian tanker "Front Brant" was unloading a million barrels of oil in a nearby sea terminal when on early morning Saturday, the 94 barrels spill occurred according to Uruguayan authorities "We've displayed all our available equipments and best people to try and solve the problem as soon as possible", said Daniel Martinez president of Uruguay's oil and gas company Ancap which runs the oil unloading sea terminal. The accident couldn't have happened at a worst moment: the beginning of the summer season when thousands of rich and famous Argentines flock to Uruguay's most sophisticated Atlantic resorts such as Jose Ignacio that has become a refuge for artists, intellectuals and the very successful in business and finance who want to enjoy holidays in privacy. Strong winds and three meter high waves impeded Ancap tugs to approach the area to spray dispersants and lay the special mats that prevent the oil spill from spreading. A several nets contention system was also displayed at the mouth of a canal that communicates an interior lagoon with the open sea. "The primary assessment is that it was a small spill and the 15.000 liters seem to have rapidly reached the coast line, which all in all is positive since our crews can clean the sandy beaches and shallow water", said Martinez. Apparently the spill originated in a leak in one of the main half a meter diameter underwater pipelines which connect with the unloading buoy. The pipeline is 3.5 kilometers long, 19 meters deep, and the sea on Saturday was too rough for the divers to search for the leak. However once the spill was confirmed all pumping from the tanker to the terminal ceased, the pipeline was blocked in several sections and "immediately the contingency plan became effective and the national and regional emergency committees were informed of the accident", revealed Martinez. The spill happens almost a decade after Uruguay's worst ecological disaster caused by an oil tanker which grounded after having run into un-chartered sea bottom rocks with the loss of thousands of tons of crude that spoiled miles of the most expensive coastline along the River Plate. Uruguay's East Sea terminal receives the bulk of the oil the country which averages a million barrels per month. In this case the Norwegian flagged 150.000 tons vessel was carrying Ural crude from Russia. Martinez revealed that the accident is costing Ancap 40.000 US dollars per day in freight charges since half a million barrels remain on board the tanker. "Ancap anyhow has sufficient reserves to cope with summer demand for almost sixty days". In February 1997 the San Jorge spilt 3.000 tons of crude which spread along 30 kilometers of beaches in the Punta del Este, including the Isla de Lobos, a mating and calving island for sea lions Almost 2.000 pups died following the accident since mothers could not feed them and oil ruins the sight, smell and vocal chords of the sea mammals.