Another day, another spill: the usual script in Dos Bocas
The news comes with the bitter taste of the foreseeable. Petróleos Mexicanos reports that 350 people are working to contain a hydrocarbon spill in the Río Seco, Tabasco. The origin: the Olmeca refinery, the same one where two weeks ago a fire claimed five lives.
“An inter-institutional operation is maintained…”, says the official statement, citing Semar, Semarnat and Profepa. The list of acronyms is long. Transparency is short.
Because until now, neither Pemex nor the Navy have explained the causes or the real magnitude of the spill. We only know that they have placed barriers and collected 240 kilos of impregnated waste. A laughable figure if compared to the almost 100 tons of the disaster at the end of February between Veracruz and Tabasco.
The historical memory that Pemex forgets
This is where informed cynicism kicks in. This is not an isolated incident. It’s one more chapter.
In May of last year, another spill of about 300 barrels near the Dos Bocas terminal. At the end of February, the interstate mega-spill. And now this, after a deadly fire. Pattern? For the authorities it seems to be just an unfortunate coincidence.
The Navy warns fishermen to avoid the area. A necessary measure, yes, but a reactive one. The question that no one at the press conference asks strongly enough is: what is being done to stop this from happening?
Cleaning actions continue. Environmental evaluations too. Meanwhile, the Rio Seco bears an increasingly ironic name and the Gulf of Mexico absorbs another blow. The truth does not need better lawyers, they say. Needs less spills.
