An oil spill occurred on Tuesday, April 7, 2020 in the San Rafael sector, on the border of three Ecuadorian provinces: Napo, Orellana and Sucumbíos. At least 15,000 barrels, representing a disaster of 2,384,700 liters, were spilled into the Coca and Napo rivers, constituting one of the largest socio-environmental disasters in the Ecuadorian Amazon in the past 15 years.
The cause was the rupture of the Trans-Ecuadorian Pipeline System (SOTE), the Heavy Crude Oil Pipeline (OCP) and the Shushufindi – Quito multipurpose pipeline. This break was due to erosion that was taking place in the Coca Riverbed, which caused it to subside and landslip approximately 70 meters. The oil-tainted waters have even reached Peru.
With the aim of raising awareness of this situation, the Bishop of the Vicariate of Aguarico and president of REPAM (Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network) in Ecuador, Adalberto Jiménez, and a social leader of the communities affected by the spills, Carlos Ajón, giving testimony of the terrible consequences, generated by this problem, for the population and for the environment.
Aftermath
This situation is affecting 150 indigenous communities on the banks of the Coca and Napo rivers, who see their water, soil and air contaminated. They have no access to drinking water, nor to water for their crops and animals, their crops are contaminated, they lack hygiene and exposure is causing serious respiratory, skin, digestive, cancer, etc. diseases. As Carlos Ajón, social leader of one of these indigenous communities, comments, “we live off the river and now everything is contaminated. We cannot fish or bathe or sow. We plant near the river because it’s easier, but now we can’t grow coffee, corn and cocoa, which is a great source of income for its marketing”.
On the other hand, these spills seriously affect our common home, as the layer of crude oil prevents the entry of light and the water and air are contaminated. This situation is causing the destruction of the ecosystem with the death of plants, algae and animals, which are also poisoned. The remains of crude oil reach the beaches and the banks and the toxicity of the soil and vegetation of the areas washed by the river. “These spills represent a disaster for us at a family, food, territorial level…” comments Ajón, who experiences this situation firsthand in his community. “Hand in hand with Cáritas, some actions have already been carried out, such as the reforestation of 15,000 trees or the installation of a water purification plant”.
Another area that has been affected by oil spills is transportation and communications. Oil has changed its transit, widening its route, making already arduous communications even more difficult. Ajón speaks of at least “three hours of travel when a person is ill to be treated”.
In addition to the aforementioned consequences, the rupture of the Trans-Ecuadorian Pipeline System brings with it others such as the violation of the rights of 109 indigenous communities: violation of the right to water, violation of the right to safe and permanent access to sufficient and nutritious food , violation of the right to health, violation of the right to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment and violation of the right to information. In this sense, underlines Msgr. Adalberto Jiménez, of the Vicariate of Aguarico in Ecuador, “we owe a lot to Cáritas, for its support so that human rights and the rights of nature are not violated. We are undertaking legal and awareness actions with the help of Cáritas Española. As a Church we denounce the State and the oil companies for this serious damage to the communities. The Amazon occupies 48% of the national territory and has only one million inhabitants, while the rest of the country, which is 52%, has 16 million inhabitants. Hence, there is no visibility of this reality. ”.
What do we do at Caritas?
For all these reasons, dese Cáritas works to contribute to the recovery of indigenous communities, carrying out development processes and political advocacy. Asking and demanding that our brothers be able to exercise their rights in the Ecuadorian Amazon. In favor of: 12 indigenous communities of the Kichua ethnic group, 1,170 people who participated (directly), 312,868 people (indirectly) among community members and potential listeners of the dissemination campaigns.
This project was developed in three phases. The first diagnosis, recognizing the impacts of oil spills on their physical and psychological health with diagnosis of physical and psychological health, delivery of hygiene kits and medicines, delivery of guides for physical and psychological assistance in emergencies. The second is ecological restoration, improving access to adequate and safe food for their nutrition, with the creation of family gardens (chakras), purchase of seeds, guarantee of food security (2,414 kcal), application of good nutritional practices (diet). And the third relating to human rights, with the aim of ensuring that communities can assert their rights, to put them into practice and demand them from the competent authorities.
The economic cost of this project is €294,858, €225,092 has already been completed.
