Oil Spill Fouls Curacao

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Published on Wednesday, 29 August 2012 12:01

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(The Jamaica Gleaner): The leader of a local environmental group asserted Monday that the spill of crude oil at Curaçao's Jan Kok preserve was from at least one storage tank owned by the Isla oil refinery.

Isla is the largest business and employer on the southern Caribbean island best known for its diving opportunities and colourful capital of Willemstad.

The island's refinery is run by the state-owned oil company of Venezuela - Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA).

"This is probably the biggest (environmental) disaster in Curacçao," said Peter van Leeuwen of the Stichting SMOC group.

"The whole area of Jan Kok is black. The birds are black. The crabs are black. The plants are black. Everything is draped in oil."

Photographs of Curaçao's southern Jan Kok area show a darkened coast and gobs of oil dripping off of coastline rocks and mixing in the surf.

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