In the early hours of Dec. 22, 2024, fishermen working in the Talara Sea in northern Peru hauled in their nets. But instead of the day’s catch, they found oil impregnating their gear. Hours later the disaster was confirmed: The tide had moved a huge oil spill northward, and it had now coated 10 kilometers (6 miles) of coastline in black.
The day after the spill, state oil company Petroperú said in its first report to the national environmental regulator, OEFA, that it had detected a leak of 0.9 barrels — 140 liters, or 37 gallons — in a pipeline at the maritime cargo terminal of its New Talara Refinery, located in the city of Talara in the department of Piura.
Three days after the spill, on Dec. 25, the environment ministry declared a 90-day environmental emergency, paralyzing tourism and fishing activity in the waters off the affected coastline — waters that more than 4,000 artisanal fishers depend on for their daily sustenance.
Now, more than three months later, the fishers have returned to work on a sea dominated by the oil industry. They say the compensation they received from Petroperú for the weeks they couldn’t bring fish to their tables due to the oil pollution is insufficient and they are seeking more. For its part, the company says it has met its commitments.
In December OEFA reported the spill affected about 1 hectare (2.5 acres) of surface water and impacted the beaches of La Capullana, El Anchón, La Palizada and La Bola. Jhan Carlo Paiva, head of conversion at the New Talara Refinery, later said it wasn’t just 0.9 barrels that had spilled, as Petroperú had said 24 hours after the incident, but that in fact the company had recovered nine barrels of “light waste” from land and sea.
Hipólito Paso, a fisherman from Talara forced to stop working due to the environmental emergency declaration, said that on the night of the spill he saw Petroperú workers attempting to contain the spill near its epicenter. “We were returning from fishing, and they were throwing the liquid [dispersant],” he told Mongabay. “The oil was no longer on top, but was being sent to sink, and that affects the marine species.”
These chemical dispersants “are solvents, they are not remediators,” Héctor Aponte, a marine biologist at the Scientific University of the South and spokesperson for the country’s professional society for biologists, told Mongabay. “In this dissolution process, part of the hydrocarbon is emulsified and goes to the bottom,” he said. “It mixes and forms flocs, but this is not remediation, it is dissolving.”
José Sixto Panta, president of the Talara Fishermen’s Guild, announced in early January that the group’s demands of the company included the recognition of damages, “the payment of 100 soles [$27] a day for the 90 days of the emergency and compensation for all fishermen and all those affected.” On Jan. 7, a delegation from the union went to Petroperú’s offices at the Talara refinery to negotiate with company representatives.
While the fishers’ demands amounted to 9,000 soles ($2,470) for each of the more than 4,000 fishers in Talara for profits lost during the emergency, Petroperú only committed to provide each fisher with a purchase card of 200 soles ($55), as well as compensation to individuals for damage to their fishing gear. It also donated provisions to their community meals. To each of the 1,000-plus fishers in Lobitos district, where the coast was hit harder by the oil, Petroperú provided five purchase cards of 300 soles ($409 total). The Talara fishers considered the amounts to be insufficient and the discrepancy an insult.