Oil spill in Cuba did not affect water supply sources

MATANZAS, Cuba, Jun 16 (ACN) So far, no effects on water supply sources have been detected after the oil spill that occurred in the Cuban town of Limonar, in the western Matanzas province, on June 13, according to authorities of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA).

In an press release, Oscar García Martínez, delegate of CITMA in the province of Matanzas, said that monitoring actions continue also in the lower course of the intermittent river La Julia, where some 20 thousand liters of crude oil spilled

According to what he explained, after three days of work to reestablish the conditions of the affected area, it was only possible to recover about seven thousand liters of oil, of the 28 thousand contained in the damaged means of transport, and the rest is impossible to recover because the characteristics of the terrain prevent the use of extraction equipment.

Preparing the conditions to access with the machinery would take too long and there is the danger of heavy rains, which would cause the overflow of the pool where the oil is contained, he said.

Nelvis Gómez Campos, sub-delegate for the environment in Matanzas province, told ACN that the rest of the fuel, including that contained in the riverbed, will be mixed with sediments to be extracted later.

The crude combined with sediments will be temporarily disposed of in a quarry currently without any other activity and where it was corroborated that its soils have impermeable characteristics, in addition, it is a distant place so there is no danger of reaching the course of the river, said the expert.

Gómez Campos assured that the mixture will undergo further treatment with a view to using it as a material for road maintenance in nearby areas.

Thanks to the timely action of Cupet's specialized forces and the local Defense Council, it was possible to contain the spill which occurred last Sunday in the settlement of Horacio Rodríguez, belonging to the municipality of Limonar, where a truck tank transporting national crude oil broke down.