This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience while browsing it. By clicking 'Got It' you're accepting these terms.
Most recent
Trending
Top Videos
The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!
About 60,000 liters (15,850 gallons) of oil spilled from a pipeline into the Estrela River and spread to Rio de Janeiro's famed Guanabara Bay over the weekend, according to Reuters and local reports.
The pipeline is owned by Transpetro, the largest oil and gas transportation company in Brazil, and a subsidiary of Petroleo Brasileiro (commonly known as Petrobras). Transpetro claims the leak resulted from an attempted robbery.
"It was a leak of significant proportions, with an impact on the mangroves," said MaurÃcio Muniz, an analyst at the Instituto Chico Mendes, which is associated with the Brazilian environment ministry, according to Reuters.
Aerial footage of the accident shows large slicks of oil contaminating the waters.
Guanabara Bay was also the site of a major spill in January 2000, when a pipeline released 1,300,000 liters (340,000 gallons) of oil into the waters. The leak stemmed from an oil refinery operated by Petrobras.
Muniz said Saturday's spill was the worst he has seen in the decade at his job, as quoted by the news website Project Colabora. He added that the bay has not fully recovered since the 2000 spill.
"The scene I witnessed was devastating: oil concentrated with garbage mainly at the mouth of the Rio Estrela," he explained (via Google translate). "The oil stain is almost reaching Paquetá [an island in Guanabara Bay].
Muniz said he is not sure if diesel or crude oil was released from the pipe.
Transpetro said that authorities have been alerted and its clean-up teams have already cleared 75 percent of the oil as of Monday morning, Reuters reported.
Latin America's largest nation is enduring the worst recession on record. In recent years, Transpetro and Petrobras have become frequent targets of theft in which gangs steal the fuel to resell on the black market, Reuters noted.
Derramamento de óleo na BaÃa de Guanabara www.youtube.com
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
By Michael Halpern
The Trump administration is scrambling to reconcile the president's contradictions of statements made by federal health scientists about the emerging coronavirus crisis. Their solution: muzzle scientists, require that all statements be politically vetted through Vice President Pence, and punish federal employees who draw attention to gross negligence. This is a highly dangerous power grab that undermines both emergency response and public faith in the reliability of information coming out of the government. And it speaks to the incompetence and incoherence of the response to this crisis so far.
By Zulfikar Abbany
Family lore has it my father was born on Feb. 29, 1936 — a leap day in a leap year many moons ago. It seems fitting for a man who says he's "not interested" in birthdays that he should have the option of missing his three years out of (almost) every four.
While keeping track of the new trends in the diamond industry can be hard, it is still an essential task of any savvy consumer or industry observer. Whether you are looking to catch a deal on your next diamond purchase or researching the pros and cons of an investment within the diamond industry, keeping up with the trends is imperative.
Trending
By Jessica Corbett
The World Health Organization on Friday raised the global risk of the new coronavirus to its highest level and reiterated the necessity of worldwide containment efforts as U.S. President Donald Trump continued to face widespread criticism over how his administration has handled the public health crisis so far.