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Unprecedented oil spill catches researchers in Peru off guard

Scientists are appalled at the environmental damage — and calling for the country to end its reliance on oil.
  1. Emiliano Rodríguez Mega
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Three workers in protective suits clean up large amounts of oil washing ashore on the coastline of Peru.

Clean-up teams have been removing oil along the 41 kilometres of Peru’s coast hit by the 15 January spill. Credit: Musuk Nolte

A viscous, black wave rolled onto the beach of the seaside town of Ancón, Peru, just as Deyvis Huamán and his team arrived to assess the situation. Two days earlier, on 15 January, thousands of barrels of crude oil spilled from a refinery to the south of there. Heavy swells had slammed the coastline after the violent eruption of a volcano near Tonga, more than 10,300 kilometres away.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00333-x

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 22 February 2022: An earlier version of this story showed on a map that the oil spill occurred along Peru’s coastline, at a refinery. Peru’s National Commission for Aerospace Research and Development (CONIDA) has confirmed that the origin point for the spill is about 4.5 kilometres offshore from the refinery, where the tanker was originally stationed.

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