Communities in Esmeraldas province in northern Ecuador have denounced the government鈥檚 failure to act following one of the country鈥檚 biggest oil spills in recent history.
A section of the Trans-Ecuadorian Oil Pipeline 鈥 a 500 kilometre-long pipeline that transports about worth of crude oil from the Amazon region to the coast every day 鈥 ruptured on March 13 following a landslide. Oil erupted for into the Esmeraldas River, flowing at least 80km downstream to the coast and into other tributaries.
Although Petroecuador 鈥 the state-owned oil company that owns the pipeline 鈥 has still refused to confirm the size of the spill, it is estimated that (4.6 million litres) of oil were released.
Crude oil coated , leaving two of the Esmeraldas River鈥檚 tributaries, the Viche and Caple rivers , which kills aquatic life. At the Esmeraldas River Estuary Mangrove Wildlife Refuge, a 242-hectare protected area at the mouth of the Esmeraldas River with the Pacific Ocean, crude oil blanketed mangrove channels, poisoning the ecosystem.
The spill has impacted about , leaving entire communities without drinking water for more than a week. Communities were forced to rely on 鈥溾 water trucked in by Petroecuador, with private trucks charging .
Thousands of people reported from the spill, such as respiratory issues, skin conditions and stomach problems.
Gov鈥檛 response
Esmeraldas residents with burning tyres and empty water containers on March 18 over the Daniel Noboa government鈥檚 broken promise to provide drinking water in a timely manner.
Instead, the government initially sent the military to Esmeraldas, which was by a local resident: 鈥淲e鈥檙e asking for water, and they send us soldiers!鈥
Furthermore, the government attempted to obfuscate responsibility for the event, with energy minister In茅s Manzano on March 20 that the spill was caused by 鈥渟abotage鈥 to the pipeline 鈥 a claim that was by Petroecuador鈥檚 general manager.
Ahead of the presidential election run-off next month, the Noboa government is seeking to deflect blame away from insecurity and, now, environmental crises that it has overseen since 2023.
Noboa finally signed an on March 22 forcing Petroecuador to give each affected family a one-off payment of US$470 (A$747.76) as 鈥渃ompensation鈥.
However, the paltry amount pales in comparison to the long-lasting impacts of the oil spill, which has dependent on agriculture, fishing and tourism.
Environmental racism
About of Esmeraldas province identify as persons of African descent, which means they face structural racism, discrimination and criminalisation.
The region鈥檚 population was subjected to the brutality of Noboa鈥檚 鈥淧lan Phoenix鈥 鈥 large-scale police and military operations purportedly to combat 鈥渢errorists鈥 鈥 which resulted in of arrests, cases of torture, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances last year.
Sociologist Ismael Bernal, following the March 13 oil spill, said that the 鈥渃riminalisation of our territories has been constant鈥. He highlighted that the majority of enforced disappearances in the country last year occurred in Esmeraldas.
Bernal called the latest oil spill a case of 鈥渆cocide鈥 and 鈥渆nvironmental racism鈥.
He said that the frequent oil spills in Esmeraldas from the pipeline are due to a 鈥渞ecurring practice of non-repair, non-evaluation and non-maintenance鈥.
Petroecuador has the pipeline for years without sufficient personnel to undertake maintenance and respond to problems.
Amid the ongoing social and environmental crisis, Petroecuador the transportation of crude oil through the pipeline on March 19, with the repaired section of pipeline in the same place where the landslide occurred.
Given that the pipeline traverses a region prone to earthquakes, landslides and flooding, it is almost inevitable that disasters such as the March 13 spill will occur again. The pipeline has ruptured since it became operational in 1972, spilling at least 600,000 barrels (97.6 million litres) of oil into the surrounding land and waterways.