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Spanish slicks 'worst catastrophe'
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Spain's prime minister says the country is facing its "worst ecological catastrophe ever" as oil from the sunken tanker Prestige continues to take its toll on the north west coast. And Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar admitted on Tuesday it was possible his government had made mistakes in the nearly month-old crisis, but denied that his administration has bungled the crisis. His comments came as Deputy Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the sunken tanker, 130 miles (210 kilometers) off shore, has 14 cracks and is leaking 125 tons of oil a day. The ship, which cracked its hull in a storm on November 13, lies three miles below the surface after sinking on November 19. Minister of Development Francisco Alvarez Cascos said the wreck had already leaked up to 18,000 tons of its 77,000 ton cargo of heavy fuel oil. The leaked oil has formed dozens of slicks that are looming off Spain's already-devastated northwest coast where oil has polluted hundreds of miles of coastline, including 250 beaches. Up to 7,000 military personnel, fishermen and volunteers are continuing the cleanup in an area that stretches from Spain's northwest border with Portugal northward nearly to Spain's border with France. In his first extensive interview since the spill began, Aznar said it was possible that he had made mistakes in handling the crisis. But he insisted that any errors, such as a lack of cleanup supplies in fishing villages hit by the slicks, were quickly corrected.
Aznar also acknowledged that the spill is the nation's worst ecological crisis, something environmentalists have been saying for weeks. On Tuesday, in a televised speech to leaders of his ruling Popular Party, he said: "Little by little we are winning the battle against the pollution." But as he spoke, the regional government of Galicia in northwest Spain reported that a large submerged oil slick was heading for a prime shellfish inlet called Arousa. Hundreds of fishermen recently managed to stop the advance of other slicks at the mouth of the Arousa inlet, protecting some of the prized mussels and clams. Meanwhile, experts are warning that more oil remains submerged.
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