(ANSA) – ROME, AUGUST 25 – A civil court in Peru has declared admissible a lawsuit for compensation for an amount equal to 4.5 billion dollars brought by the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi) of the country against Repsol and other companies, including an Italian company, for damages following the oil spill in January north of Lima and defined by the UN as “the worst ecological disaster in the history of the country”.
The companies involved in the case, reports the Peruvian radio broadcaster Rpp, are Repsol SA, Mapfre Global Risks, Fratelli D’Amico Armatori SPA, Repsol Comercial SAC, Mapfre Perú Compañía de Seguros y Reaseguros SA, Refinería La Pampilla SAA and Empresa Transtotal Agencia Marítima SA
The spill occurred on January 15, when the equivalent of 12,000 barrels of oil ended up in the sea during the unloading of crude oil from the Italian tanker ‘Mare Doricum’ at the La Pampilla refinery in Repsol.
According to the Spanish company, which rejects the accusations against him, the accident occurred due to the “uncontrolled movement” of the oil tanker due to the strong wave motion caused by the volcanic eruption of the Tonga Islands.
With resolution no. 4 of 18 August, the 27th Specialized Civil Court of Lima admitted the case in the light of the evidence presented, for which it granted the companies a period of 30 days to respond. The president of Indecopi, Julián Palacín, said that, following the declaration of environmental emergency for the oil spill, the beaches were closed with serious repercussions on economic activities. Furthermore, “this judicial action could generate national and international jurisprudence on oil spill issues”.
Palacin denied that the oil spill problem has been solved, as reported by Repsol, recalling that the Ministry of the Environment reported that 25 beaches are still affected by the presence of hydrocarbons. (HANDLE).
Source: Ansa
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