The oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, denounced by several NGOs and minimized by the state oil company Pemex, affected the Mexican coast and beaches, local authorities said on Wednesday August 2. “It was over 100 square kilometers of oil at sea, which was dispersed by currents along all the beaches that are in the gulf,” said the assistant prosecutor for environmental crimes from the State of Campeche (East), Alejandro Brown Gantus. He said he feared “serious environmental damage” during this interview in an Agence France-Presse (AFP) video recorded on Tuesday.
Environmental activists and residents have cleaned up about 500 meters of beach in the state of Campeche in the past few days, where the water carries black spots, AFP found. The oil spill hit the coasts of four eastern and southeastern states (Campeche, Tabasco, Tamaulipas and Veracruz), the El Pais news site reported a few days ago. No presence of oil was mentioned around Cancun and its surroundings, the most touristic zone of Mexico, which is higher in the Yucatan peninsula.
“Full Opacity”
Several organizations, including Greenpeace, had denounced on July 18 an oil leak covering 400 square kilometers in the Gulf of Mexico. The leak was located near the oil rig where an explosion, followed by a fire, killed two workers in early July. The leak, evidenced by satellite images, according to the NGOs, began around July 4, they said in a statement, criticizing the “complete opacity” of the authorities around this oil leak.
The latter is linked to natural emanations of hydrocarbons at sea, replied the state oil company Pemex, which disputes the versions published in the press. Its managing director, Octavio Romero, admitted that a leak had been detected on July 3 in the area of ??the explosion that occurred on the gas exploitation platform. The leak was plugged on July 22, he said.
