New hurdles hamper Galapagos oil spill cleanup
PUERTO BAQUERIZO MORENO, Ecuador -- Efforts to move the Ecuadorean tanker aground on rocks off the Galapagos Islands were hampered by a lack of equipment Friday but the threat from the oil spill was fading, experts said.
The Ecuadorean Navy had hoped to bring the Jessica to an even keel but a U.S. Coast Guard team said they ran out of cables key to the salvage operation in the exotic archipelago made famous by British naturalist Charles Darwin's visit in the 19th century.
The Jessica belched about two-thirds of its cargo of 240,000 gallons of oil into the crystalline Galapagos waters after running aground last week. Its semi-submerged hulk now rests in the prophetically named Shipwreck Bay, outside the tiny harbor of San Cristobal island.
"It's so frustrating. First the weather interrupted operations and now we've been hit by a lack of equipment," Coast Guard team chief Ed Stanton told Reuters.
"Today's a write-off -- and it's going to take a week minimum to get the boat righted," he said of the ecological disaster in the pristine ecosystem.
In Quito, the U.S. Embassy announced Friday that Washington was giving authorities $225,000 to clean up the mess.
"The U.S. government's contribution to Galapagos National Park will help mitigate the impact of the fuel spill, which is affecting marine and land species," the embassy said in a statement.
The island cluster is home to myriad exotic species including iguanas, flightless cormorants, sea lions and the famous Galapagos giant tortoises. The islands inspired Darwin to devise his theory of evolution.
Favorable currents protect animals
Ecologists said the damage has been minimal because ocean currents have taken most of the diesel and bunker fuel, which was to be used to power tour boats, away from the islands. While some animals would die, they anticipated the ecosystem would make a swift recovery.
"We are talking about minimal animal deaths, and we expect ... a full recovery (to the ecosystem) within three to four years," said Galapagos National Park Director Eliecer Cruz.
"We have been very lucky. We think the disaster has passed," Environment Minister Rodolfo Rendon told Reuters. "The problem is still very serious, but paradise here will never be lost."
The only known damage to wildlife has been a pair of dead pelicans and some animals and birds tainted with oil.
Efforts to seek other injured animals were being prepared for the coming days to augment those already being undertaken by teams of conservationists from around the world.
"We hope to start capturing the affected animals over the weekend, but fortunately not many animals have been affected," said Earl Peterson of the animal rehabilitation team.
About 30 sea lions and several pelicans, giant tortoises and colorful blue-footed boobie birds already have been moved to centers to be cleaned.
Seen from above, the Pacific was streaked with oily rainbows but the stain had largely broken up, with patches of pale blue from chemical agents sprayed from converted fishing boats.
A thin slick of diesel spread as far as Santa Cruz and Santa Fe islands, but the pollution of their shores has been negligible.
Only one pelican and two seagulls are known to have died in the spill. Still, dozens of other birds and marine animals -- sea lions, seagulls, blue-footed boobies and albatrosses -- have been affected, Galapagos park officials said.
Tanker captain says he is only partly to blame
The captain of the crippled tanker told The Associated Press late Thursday that he was to blame for grounding the vessel but not "one drop" of spill.
Capt. Tarquino Arevalo, 58, who apparently mistook a signal buoy for a lighthouse when the Jessica ran aground 10 days ago, has been detained by local authorities. Arevalo was being treated for a gash on his head and dehydration after staying aboard for four days after the accident.
"I am directly responsible for what happened, responsible for grounding the vessel. That I accept," Arevalo said. "I recognize my fault until that point ... but about the pollution, what can I do?"
The veteran seaman, stammering and in tears, said if officials from the Galapagos National Park had called for help early, all the oil could have been removed from the vessel with no damage to the ecosystem populated by rare species that inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The leak began nearly three days after the vessel ran aground.
"We would not have had one drop of contamination," if they had acted, he said.
"There was so much time. If the people at the Galapagos National Park, through their connections, had called, had cried out for international help ... with the position the vessel was in, they could have been working to get the fuel off," Arevalo said.
At least three criminal proceedings are pending against Arevalo, his crew and an official from Petrocomercial, an affiliate of the state-owned oil company Petroecuador. Arevalo and the Petrocomercial official were ordered held in custody until investigations are complete.
Arevalo and the tanker's owners could face two to four years in prison if convicted of negligence or crimes against the environment.
The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.
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