Shocking moment pipeline bursts spewing crude oil into Amazon rainforest
1 February 2022, 11:55 | Updated: 1 February 2022, 12:12
This is the moment an oil pipeline burst, spewing crude petroleum into the Amazon rainforest and causing a nature reserve and river supplying indigenous communities to become polluted.
Shocking video footage shared by Greenpeace shows green foliage being covered in black oil after a rupture in the pipe.
The burst, which happened on Friday in the eastern Napo province of Ecuador, was caused by a falling rock which came amid heavy rainfall.
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Ecuador's environment ministry described it as a "major" pollution event.
It said on Monday the spill had reached a protected area of the Cayambe-Coca National Park as well as a stretch of the Coca River.
Indigenous organisation Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) confirmed communities are being affected.
REVEALED🚨
— Greenpeace UK (@GreenpeaceUK) January 31, 2022
‘Oil spill sprays crude into Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest’
That’s according to Indigenous activists, who shared footage of oil spraying from a ruptured pipeline. pic.twitter.com/8FjN3Kvq7R
The company which owns the pipeline, OCP Ecuador, suspended pumping over the weekend to repair the tube and contain the spillage and clean the area.
It said in a statement that the "pumping of crude oil has been stopped as a preventive measure, and that it will be restarted when the conditions are right".
The OCP pipeline and state-owned SOTE pipeline were previously forced to halt pumping in December as steady erosion caused by rainfall caused issues.
