MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Picture of canvas swimming pool to contain oil spill in Argentina goes viral

A modest canvas swimming pool or a high-tech decontamination device?

The picture of a canvas swimming pool designed for the backyard of a modest income family has been used by oil pipeline operators Oldelval to contain a crude spill of over 3 million liters in Argentine Patagonia has gone viral.

“Do not be confused! It is a forceful measure of security that was arranged to contain the oil spill in Río Negro,” leftwing Congresswoman Myriam Bregman joked on Twitter.

A crude oil spill in the Argentine province of Río Negro has made the headlines around a week ago. But when everything seemed to be getting back to normal, the “high-tech” resource brought Vaca Muerta's major pipeline under the spotlight.

Read also: Major oil spill in Argentine Province of Rio Negro contained

The incident took place in the Medanito area, about 20 kilometers south of the town of Catriel. The oil company “discovered the pipe, verified the break, and began with the tasks of suctioning the liquid, removing the soil and analyzing the situation,” the district's Secretary of Environment and Climate Change had reported.

The photo quickly went viral on social networks, accompanied by criticism for the environmental damage caused.

The Secretariat of Environment and Climate Change of Río Negro ordered that the company carry out a reforestation in the area with the aim of “alleviating the extraction of native flora that was dragged in the cleaning of the land” and that a veterinarian be hired to to take care of the fauna of the place.

Oleoductos Del Valle S.A. (Oldelval), which carries 95% of Vaca Muerta's output, had said it had already collected all the oil in the area when the picture of the pool has cast doubts on the efficacy of the solutions implemented.

Oldelval had also been inaccurate regarding the volume of the spill. At first, the company had announced it was 2000 m3 (cubic meters) and then changed it to 3200 m3.

Read also: Argentina: Pipeline oil spill in Río Negro exceeded 3 million liters

 

¿Parece una Pelopincho en un feo jardín? No señor, no señorita... ¡No se confundan! Es una contundente medida de seguridad que se dispuso para contener el derrame de petróleo en Río Negro.#EsJoda#nohayplanetaB pic.twitter.com/ZvawDmhxI9

— Myriam Bregman (@myriambregman) December 15, 2021