Peru declares environmental emergency after oil spill

LIMA - Peru's government on Thursday declared an environmental emergency in a northern coastal area, where state oil firm Petroperu last weekend spilled a crude oil shipment into surrounding waters of the Pacific Ocean.

A vessel carrying out pre-shipment maneuvers caused the spill on Saturday at a terminal of Peru's Talara refinery in northern Peru.

Petroperu has not said how much crude was spilled into the sea, but Peru's environmental watchdog OEFA said in a preliminary report it has affected some 10,000 square meters of surface seawater, and the environment ministry said it has affected at least seven beaches, as well as local wildlife.

Peru's environment ministry said the 90-day emergency aims to "guarantee the sustainable management of the area and the execution of recovery and remediation works to mitigate environmental contamination."

Petroperu said on Wednesday it had deployed clean-up brigades from the moment of the spill and coordinated with the fishermen's union and local authorities so that local economic and tourist activities could continue normally.

Petroperu said in a statement that it maintains cleaning personnel, boats and drones in the affected area to "carry out preventive monitoring to guarantee the early detection of any eventuality."

Local authorities have said the spill has damaged coastal plants and animals such as crabs, while fishermen say the spill has stopped them from working.

"We have not been able to go out for six days now," fisherman Martin Pasos told local radio RPP. "It is chaos, what happened in Lobitos. So far, we have not had any response from the oil company."

(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Aurora Ellis)