Tuesday, May 13, 2008
It may take years to measure the ecological destruction caused by the oil spill near Darwin's outdoor laboratory.
Jan 24, 2001 | As fuel from a grounded ship washes up on the shores of the Galápagos Islands -- where Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution in the 19th century -- environmentalists are criticizing the Ecuadorean government's response, which they believe has been too slow.
So far, the toll has been limited: One pelican is dead and four sea lions injured, their prognosis uncertain. But environmentalists say we may never know just what species perished or became extinct because of the accident, since the archipelago is home to so many animals, many of which haven't even been documented yet.
The accident occurred when the Ecuadorean-registered ship ran aground on Jan. 16. By late Friday, diesel and bunker fuel began to leak from the Jessica, polluting the sea with an estimated 170,000 gallons.
Already there are reports of oil washing ashore on San Cristobal Island, about 800 yards from where the boat lies tilted at 60 degrees on its side, and as far away as Santa Fe Island, 37 miles west. The islands are home to many endangered species -- and many animals that are endemic to the archipelago. Ecuadorean President Gustavo Noboa declared a state of emergency Monday night. "There's going to be a lot of damage," says Ximena Vallejo, communications director for the president. "Right now we are asking for all of the international help that the world can give to us. We have to take care of this no matter what." But there has been mixed government reaction to the spill. On Tuesday, Ecuadorean Environment Minister Rodolfo Rendon described the spill to reporters as a "problem, not a tragedy."
For their part, environmentalists paint the accident as something that could have been prevented; irreparable damage has occurred because, they say, the Ecuadorean government took too long to act. "Since Jan. 16, we understand that the thing went aground but [the Ecuadorean government] have done absolutely nothing," says Natalia Arias, president of Accion Ecologica, a local ecological group. "The problem is they waited until it all leaked out and say let's put [up] barriers. But it would have been more efficient to suck the oil out of the tanks to another tanker because they had days and days of notice."
But according to President Noboa's spokeswoman, Vallejo, Ecuador requested international help on Wednesday, the day after the accident. Due to bureaucratic delays, Vallejo says, it took the U.S. State Department until Saturday to authorize the U.S. Coast Guard to provide assistance. Vallejo says Ecuador requested help because the country does not have the resources to handle a large-scale oil spill. "We were trying to remove it, but we have don't have the equipment," she says. "We wanted to avoid this." Meanwhile, the Ecuadorean government places the blame on the helmsman of Jessica, and has launched an investigation into the matter since the helmsman reportedly was not properly licensed. (The ship's captain was reportedly out sick that day, Vallejo says.)
The United States Coast Guard National Strike Force, a response team that handles oil spills, arrived on Sunday and has been siphoning fuel off the boat. But that work has been complicated by the condition of the ship. "Essentially, it's easier to walk on the walls than on the floor so it's difficult for measurements," Rick Wester, spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard, says of the listing ship. "Also, it now looks like there's significantly less oil remaining on board, and that implies that more fuel has been spilled than what we initially estimated," he says. It's difficult to say how much fuel has seeped out, but authorities believe that only 10,000 gallons remain onboard a ship that carried 240,000 gallons of fuel.
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