"Pipeline Ruptures in Ecuadorian Amazon", 01 February 2022

...A pipeline has ruptured in the Ecuadorian Amazon near the site of a previous oil spill, contaminating waterways in Indigenous territory and threatening wildlife in a protected area.

The spill has impacted almost five acres of a nature reserve in Cayambe-Coca National Park and polluted the Coca River, Deutsche Welle reported. Ecuador’s Environmental Ministry called it a “major” pollution event...

The spill occurred Friday night when a pipeline operated by OCP Ecuador split in a rockslide following heavy rains, Reuters reported. The group Amazon Frontlines posted images of the incident on social media. 

On Saturday, the company stopped pumping crude through the pipeline.

At first, OCP Ecuador said that the spill took place in an area that was removed from any bodies of water, as Reuters reported at the time. However, Indigenous organization CONFENIAE provided early evidence that this was not the case.

“The impact of the oil spill has reached the Kichwa community of Panduyaku in the province of Sucumbíos,” CONFENIAE said on Twitter Saturday, along with a video showing crude polluting a river...

In a statement Monday, OCP Ecuador acknowledged river pollution.

“We were successful in containing the majority of oil that flowed from the pipeline,” OCP Ecuador’s Executive President Jorge Vugdelija said, as Reuters reported Monday. “However, we are aware small traces have reached bodies of water, and we are working on it”...

“Our staff are monitoring 210 kilometers (130 miles) of the Coca River and its tributaries and coordinating containment and remediation where traces of hydrocarbon are identified,” Ecuador’s Environmental Ministry said, as Deutsche Welle reported. 

Indigenous advocates said the spill was just another example of how fossil fuel extraction harms Ecuadorian communities and wildlife...