SPAIN: THICK OIL FROM SUNKEN TANKER PRESTIGE SPREADS FROM EUROPE'S LARGEST FISHTANK IN LA CORUNA TO THE TINY VILLAGE OF MUXIA
Record ID:
344994
SPAIN: THICK OIL FROM SUNKEN TANKER PRESTIGE SPREADS FROM EUROPE'S LARGEST FISHTANK IN LA CORUNA TO THE TINY VILLAGE OF MUXIA
- Title: SPAIN: THICK OIL FROM SUNKEN TANKER PRESTIGE SPREADS FROM EUROPE'S LARGEST FISHTANK IN LA CORUNA TO THE TINY VILLAGE OF MUXIA
- Date: 24th November 2002
- Summary: (EU) LA CORUNA, SPAIN (NOVEMBER 23, 2002) (REUTERS) 1. SLV SEA PAN LOCAL RESIDENTS WALKING ALONG ARTIFICIAL POOL OF SEA WATER USED BY THE FINISTERRE AQUARIUM; SLV PEOPLE DEPLOYING FILTERS TO CLEAN THE WATER BEFORE IT GOES INTO AQUARIUM (5 SHOTS) 0.26 2. (SOUNDBITE)(English) DIRECTOR OF BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF THE FINISTERRE AQUARIUM, FRANCISCO FRANCO, SAYING "We are working with an open circuit. We are taking the water directly from the ocean and using it in our circuits. What we are going to do now is trying to protect the circuits from the black tide that is coming, right? So we have isolated this pool from the open ocean. Now we are trying to protect it. You see the barriers floating in the water. This way, we can take the water directly from this pool." 0.57 3. MV VISITORS TO AQUARIUM LOOKING INTO TANK; SCU SHELLFISH IN TANKS INSIDE THE FINISTERRE AQUARIUM (2 SHOTS) 1.12 4. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DIRECTOR GENERAL OF FINISTERRE AQUARIUM, RAMON NUNES, COMMENTING ON THE LOCAL WAY OF BREEDING MUSSELS, SAYING "Below the surface, this is what there is. It's a net where mussels live, next to many other species of fish and they are all feeding in this ecosystem. This wealth is also under threat." 1.27 5. SCU FISH IN TANKS IN THE AQUARIUM; SCU NET CONTAINING MUSSELS (3 SHOTS) 1.42 6. LV FISHING VILLAGE; SLV FISHING BOAT LEAVING FOR THE SEA; SLV SEA BIRDS (3 SHOTS) 1.56 7. WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE 2.00 8. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SPANISH DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER, MARIANO RAJOY, SAYING "The problem is not that we don't have boats. The problem is that weather conditions prevent us from using those boats. We have a lot of boats in the area that could be very useful, but weather conditions prevent us from using them." 2.18 (U6) MUXIA, SPAIN (NOVEMBER 23, 2002)(REUTERS) 9. SLV MUXIA SEAFRONT WITH OIL SPILLS; SLV LOCAL RESIDENTS WATCHING; SLV WAVES CARRYING OIL TO SHORE; SLV RESIDENT WATCHING (5 SHOTS) 2.38 10. HASTREE ON THE SEAFRONT WITH OIL ALL AROUND IT 2.42 11. SLV CRANES PUSHING OIL AWAY; SLV LOCAL RESIDENTS WITH PROTECTIVE CLOTHES GATHERING ON THE SQUARE OF THE VILLAGE; SLV WAVE COVERED WITH OIL (6 SHOTS) 3.10 12. SLV VILLAGE SQUARE AND SEAFRONT COVERED WITH OIL; SLV LOCAL RESIDENTS WATCHING; SLV TRACTOR WITH WHEELS COVERED WITH OIL (8 SHOTS) 3.48 13. (SOUNDBITE)(Spanish) GUILLERMO TOBA, CRANE OPERATOR, SAYING "We are all angry. We can't take it anymore. What you are seeing, is like fire. All the coast has burnt. We don't know how many years it will take to recover. It will take a long time for the coast, and the sealife, to recover." 4.04 14. SLV LOCAL RESIDENT DRESSED WITH PROTECTIVE CLOTHES READYING TO HELP AND TO CLEAN BEACH; SLV AREA OF CHILDREN PLAYGROUND COVERED WITH OIL; SCU BROKEN LAMP (9 SHOTS) 4.39 15. (SOUNDBITE)(Spanish) LOCAL RESIDENT MARTA SAYING "Here, there is a mess that will take us three years to clean up. Or even more that three years, and this, just to clean up the mess. And after that, it will take at least 10 years for the area to regenerate, for the sealife to come back, for everything to go back to normal. A minimum of ten years. But, according the Spanish government, the situation is under control. So, I invite the government to come here, and see with its own eyes. So they could see if it is under control. Is this under control? I don't think so. The only thing we have to clean up the mess is our hands. Nothing more. Just our hands. We are asking for more hands. The more hands we have, the better." 5.11 16. SLV TRACTOR OPERATING AT NIGHT (6 SHOTS) 5.39 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 9th December 2002 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MUXIA AND LA CORUNA, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Reuters ID: LVA8ISOBNAY9DYL5K0LLC2BUBFRX
- Story Text: From Europe's largest fishtank in La Coruna to the tiny
little village of Muxia, thick oil which has leaked from the
sunken tanker Prestige has washed up on beaches and rocks over
a 400 km (250 mile) stretch of the Galician coast, coating
seabirds and endangering shellfish stocks vital to the local
economy.
Since the storm-damaged Prestige broke in half and sank
on Tuesday (November 19) some 130 nautical miles off the
coast, large oil slicks from the Swiss-owned tanker have
damaged hundreds of kilometres of the pristine coastline, and
more slicks are reported just off the coast. The damage was
visible everywhere on Saturday (November 23).
The Aquarium Finisterre in La Coruna houses Europe's
largest fish tank, and is home to 35-thousand fish, birds, and
sea mammals.
Staff at the aquarium have discovered that it had been
contaminated by traces of oil leaked from the tanker.
Keepers at the aquarium raised the alarm when a seal named
Gregor was found with oil on his whiskers and another seal,
Bine, was found to have oil stains on its belly.
Aquarium staff have been taking measures to get clean,
unpolluted water back into the aquarium.
The aquarium usually uses seawater for its tanks. To get
clean water, they created an artificial pool which they need
to protect from more black tides coming up. Aquarium staff was
busy deploying barriers to isolate the pool from the polluted
ocean.
The General Director of the aquarium also worried that, in
addition to damages to the environment, the oil spill will
also affect traditional ways of fishing.
Fishermen on the Galicia coastline breed mussels directly
in the sea. This kind of breeding is now under threat.
"It's a net where mussels live, next to many other species
of fish - and they are all feeding themselves in this
ecosystem. This wealth is also under threat," Ramon Nunes,
Director General of the Finisterre Aquarium explained.
In the week since thick fuel oil from the Prestige began
hitting Spanish beaches, the government has faced growing
criticism from environmental groups and the media that efforts
to protect the coast have been inadequate and the cleanup slow
and disorganised.
But Deputy Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy rejected charges
of delays and incompetence at a stormy news conference in the
northern port of La Coruna, saying government decisions had
been timely and resources adequate.
Rajoy blamed poor weather conditions, and said the
weather prevented local authorities of using boats to help
stop the oil reaching the coast.
This explanation might not be enough for the residents of
Muxia, on the Galician coast.
The tiny little village is now under a thick cover of oil,
from the children playground to the central square.
Using tractors and their hands, residents helped by
volunteers from all over Spain were fighting a battle long
lost and were visibly upset.
"We are all angry. We can't take it anymore. What you are
seeing, is like fire. All the coast has burnt. We don't know
how many years it will take to recover. It will take a long
time for the coast, and the sealife, to recover," said
Guillermo Toba, behind the wheel of a tractor.
"Here, there is a mess that will take us three years to
clean up. Or even more that three years, and this, just to
clean up the mess. And after that, it will take at least 10
years for the area to regenerate, for the sealife to come
back, for everything to go back to normal. A minimum of ten
years. But, according the Spanish government, the situation is
under control. So, I invite the government to come here, and
see with its own eyes. So they could see if it is under
control. Is this under control? I don't think so," said Marta
who lives in the area.
Spain says 10,000 to 11,000 tonnes of the viscous fuel
toxin spewed out before the storm-damaged Prestige broke in
half and sank on Tuesday some 130 nautical miles off the coast
where the ocean is some 3.6 km (two miles) deep.
Environmental group Greenpeace estimates 20,000 tonnes
leaked from the tanker, which was carrying 77,000 tonnes of
fuel oil -- twice the amount that spilled when the Exxon
Valdez ran aground in Alaska in 1989 to create what has been
stamped in the world's mind as the worst ever oil spill.
A wave of oil slicks continued to menace Spain and
Portugal, and France said on Friday (November 22) that
maritime pollution units had been put on alert and volunteers
mobilised amid fears that strong winds would blow oil to its
coast.
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