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Spanish military battle oil spill
From CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spain has expanded its military involvement in the massive cleanup of oil spilled from a tanker along the Galician coast three weeks ago. The cleanup effort stretches more than 900 km (550 miles) of Spanish coastline. Spain dispatched 500 naval cadets to its northern coast, where the spill was coating the area's fishing grounds and nature reserves with thick black oil. While military forces were deployed on Thursdsay, Spain for the first time acknowledged that the broken tanker, broken in two and lying on the ocean floor 210 kilometres (130 miles) off the coast, was still leaking. Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Mariano Rjoy said at a news conference in Madrid that a French submersible inspecting the sunken tanker had detected small amounts of the heavy fuel oil leaking from the tanker in "solidified" form. French and Portuguese authorities have been saying for days that oil has been seen floating around the site of the sinking -- oil that could only have leaked out of the tanker after it sunk on November 19. Spain had denied those claims, saying it believed 80 percent of the cargo remained 2 miles down on the ocean floor where near-freezing temperatures would congeal it. With the fishing industry on Spain's northern coast suffering under the weight of the oil spill, fresh military involvement was welcomed, although some critics wondered why the government took so long to fully commit its forces. In addition to helping with the cleanup, the military would also provide meals, bedding and showers to an estimated 3,000 Spanish volunteers expected to pour into the northwestern coastal area this weekend. They will assist thousands of other volunteers and fishermen who have been struggling against the slicks, and complaining that the government still has not fully distributed protective cleanup clothing nor sufficient containers in which to store the oil gathered at sea or on the beaches. Until now, smaller contingents had been assigned directly to the cleanup, despite demands from opposition parties to use more of the military. In Spain, the latest damage has hit the prime shellfish inlets just north of the Portuguese border and nature reserves like the Atlantic Islands National Park, a series of pristine islands that were designated as a national park last July. Some fishermen have simply used their hands to scoop up the oil. Spanish authorities extended a fishing ban to 913 kilometres (566 miles) of coastline, and acknowledged that a few huge slicks that had been the main threat have fragmented into dozens of smaller slicks, making the cleanup even more difficult. The exact amount spilled from the tanker Prestige's 77,000-ton cargo was in dispute. The government said about 17,000 tons have spilled; environmentalists and others said the figure was surely much higher. Some of the slicks are 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the Portuguese coast; others have washed up on Spain's previously untouched northern shore and still others are heading toward France. France recalled two of its specialised cleanup ships that have been helping Spain because they would be needed to defend French shores near Biarritz, where oil slicks could arrive in coming days. The cleanup vanguard has been a fleet of eight ships from European nations that have "vacuumed" 8,000 tons of oil from the sea's surface. The departure of the two French vessels in the fleet will be a setback but the government said three more ships from Italy and Denmark were on the way. On November 13 the Prestige began leaking its cargo of heavy fuel oil, which is far denser and more difficult to cleanup than crude oil. Spain ordered the ailing tanker to be pushed out to sea, where it split in two and sank on November19, spilling even more as it went down.
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