The Andes
ELN bomb Colombia oil pipeline infrastructure
Colombia's ELN guerillas blew up four crude-oil holding pools along the Caño Limon pipeline, sparking a large blaze and causing the local population to flee.
Tag: oil spills
The Amazon
Peru: oil spill threatens rainforest reserve
Indigenous leaders in Peru’s Amazon protested that a leak from Pluspetrol’s oil operations is causing contamination within the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve.
The Amazon
Ecuador opens Yasuni reserve to oil interests
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa announced that he is abandoning plans for an ambitious internationally funded conservation program at Yasuni National Park in the Amazon.
Planet Watch
Gulf of Mexico: maybe you missed the bad news…
The gas rig fire off Louisiana is portrayed as a near-miss at worst—while researchers predict a record “dead zone” the size of New Jersey in the Gulf of Mexico this year.
The Andes
Blasts shut Colombia’s second largest oil pipeline
Two explosions shut down Colombia’s Caño Limon oil pipeline, in the latest guerilla attack. Such blasts have spilled much crude in the rainforest region in recent years.
The Amazon
Ecuador, Peru: oil spills foul Pacific coast, Amazon
Ecuador’s trans-Andean pipeline burst, fouling small farms near the Pacific coast, while Peru declared a state of emergency in the Amazon’s Pastaza Basin over oil contamination.
Leak at tar sands plant fouls Athabasca River
Tainted water poured for hours into Canada's Athabasca River before a broken pipe was sealed at one of the Suncor tar-sands plants that it is to supply the Keystone XL pipeline.
The Amazon
Argentina freezes Chevron assets in Ecuador case
An Argentine judge embargoed Chevron’s assets in the country, a win for plaintiffs trying to collect a $19 billion judgment against the company in Ecuador for environmental damage.
The Amazon
High court rejects Chevron appeal in Ecuador case
The US Supreme Court declined to Chevron’s bid to block global enforcement of a $19 billion judgment by a court in Ecuador, in a victory for 30,000 rainforest dwellers.
The Caribbean
PDVSA oil spill fouls Curaçao
An oil spill at a refinery operated by the Venezuelan parastatal PDVSA on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao threatens a nature reserve which is a critical flamingo habitat.
Africa
Niger Delta insurgency back on?
Gunmen attacked two ships off the coast of Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta, killing two naval troops protecting the vessels and seizing four foreign workers before fleeing.
The Amazon
ANTIFA
Lizardo Cauper, president of Peru's alliance of Amazonian peoples, AIDESEP, issued an urgent call for authorities to open dialogue with indigenous communities in the northern region of Loreto rather than militarizing the area in response to mounting social conflicts and attacks on the North Peruvian Pipeline. Noting that the aging pipeline is in chronic disrepair, with repeated spills contaminating the rainforest, Cauper said: "We have made a call that, in place of militarization, they put in place a new pipeline. But it is not enough to have a new pipeline, but to respond to the demands of the people who are living around these oil activities." Regional authorities have called upon Lima to declare a state of emergency in response to paralysis of the pipeline, which delivers crude from rainforest oilfields over the Andes. (Photo: Andina)