Rio oil spill is Guanabara Bay's second biggest
Date: 27-Nov-01
Country: BRAZIL
Clean-up works continued through the weekend and yesterday as environmental officials evaluated the damage from up to 110,000 liters (30,000 gallons) of crude that leaked from a ruptured underwater refinery pipeline on Friday.
Axel Grael, environment subsecretary of Rio de Janeiro state government, said the owners of the Manginhos refinery near Rio, local firm Peixoto de Castro, could be fined up to 3 million reais ($1.2 million).
"We will only decide on the size of the fine after evaluating all the damage that this spill caused. It is the second biggest spill ever in this region," he told Reuters.
The biggest occurred under similar circumstances in January 2000, when a pipeline run by state oil giant Petrobras broke, spewing about three times as much oil into the bay, coating scores of marine birds, fish and other water creatures in oil.
This time around, strong winds aggravated the situation, spreading the slick beyond the port area towards the beaches of Niteroi, a city which lies across the bay from Rio.
Oil slicks with ships and containment barriers around them could be seen in the picturesque bay from Rio's bayside center area and from the Rio-Niteroi bridge during the weekend.
The Peixoto de Castro company, which initially reported a spill of 2,100 gallons (8,000 liters), is now saying that 10,570 gallons (40,000 liters) had leaked, but state officials estimate the spill at nearly 30,000 gallons (110,000 liters).
Petrobras and Anglo-Dutch group Shell were taking part in the clean-up.
Petrobras, Brazil's only oil producer and the sole major refiner, has made clear it had nothing to do with the refinery in question. Manginhos is one of Brazil's two privately-run refineries.
Petrobras, which has a history of embarrassing oil spills, was fined around $30 million for the January 2000 dumping of 340,000 gallons (1.3 million liters) of crude into Guanabara Bay through a ruptured underwater pipeline.