Another Brazilian oil spill imperils Rio's beaches

July 26, 2000
Web posted at: 11:21 AM EDT (1521 GMT)

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) -- Brazil suffered its second oil spill in less than two weeks as a slick threatened beaches by Rio de Janeiro's picturesque Guanabara Bay, officials said on Tuesday.

The spill appeared to be smaller than the one last week, in which 1 million gallons (4 million liters) of crude oil poured into a southern river, a spokeswoman for Rio's state environment secretariat told Reuters.

The spill was spotted on Tuesday morning at the entrance to the bay, not far from Sugar Loaf Mountain, one of Rio's principal tourist attractions. A refined oil product, not crude, formed a greasy film on the water's surface.

Officials said they did not know how much oil had leaked into the bay but said the spill "looked smaller" than the July 16 one, which was Brazil's worst in 25 years.

"The slick was probably caused by a tanker cleaning out its tanks," the spokeswoman said. "We won't be able to identify the responsible party for another 48 hours, though."

The slick was threatening the coastline around Sugar Loaf and beaches in Niteroi, the city directly across Guanabara Bay from Rio de Janeiro. It had broken up into small patches spreading over up to 13 miles (20 km).

"We have eight boats and four vacuum pumps working to keep the spill from the beaches," the spokeswoman said. Rio state plans to fine the guilty party up to $28 million once officials determine the size of the spill and the extent of the damage.

State oil giant Petrobras, which was responsible for last week's spill, denied causing Tuesday's accident. The company confirmed that none of its fixed installations had suffered leaks and that none of its ships were carrying refined oil products in the area in the last five days, Rodolpho Tourinho, the mines and energy minister, said.

"Despite the conviction that the spilled oil did not come from one of its ships, Petrobras has already started offering cleanup services," he said.

Petrobras, with headquarters in Rio, was still removing oil residue from the Iguacu River caused by a burst pipe at one of its refineries last week. It was the company's third accident with spilled oil this year.

In January, a Petrobras tanker dumped 270,000 gallons (1.3 million liters) in Guanabara Bay, coating countless marine birds, fish and crabs in oil. Environmentalists say it will take 10 years for the region to recover from that accident.

In June, another tanker leaked 98 gallons (380 litres) of crude into Guanabara Bay.

Guanabara Bay was the site of Brazil's biggest spill when 1.6 million gallons (6 million liters) were dumped by a tanker in 1974.

"Oil spills in Brazil are becoming more and more frequent, creating a critical situation," said Ulisses Lacava of the World Wildlife Fund in Brazil. "There needs to be a complete revision of security and retention plans as well as environmental impacts."

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