outdoors

Aftermath of an oil spill

photos by Gabriele Hoebart

It's never possible to collect all of the oil that gets spilled into the sea. Some of it evaporates, and much of it lingers on in tar balls like those photographed in Bocas by Austrian geographer Gabriele Hoebart.

The February oil spill at the Petroterminales de Panama storage facility in Chiriqui Grande had effects that will be measurable for many years to come, and now it's starting to make itself felt in the courts. The National Environmental Authority (ANAM) has brought an administrative lawsuit against the company as the result of the spill, which apparently was caused by a broken valve. The environmentalist group Oilwatch has filed a criminal complaint that alleges that it was the company's negligence that caused the spill.

Also in this section:
Breakfast time in the garden
Permanently managed forests
Bocas oil spill aftermath