by Deep Green Resistance News Service | Feb 16, 2012 | Obstruction & Occupation, Toxification
By the Associated Press
Hundreds of protesters blocked streets and burned tires in eastern Venezuela on Wednesday to demand clean water after a recent oil spill polluted rivers and streams that supply local storage tanks.
“We have not had water for a week,” said Maria Rodriguez, an angry 26-year-old housewife who joined the protest in the city of Maturin. “We don’t have water to cook and bathe, and we don’t have the money needed to buy bottled water everyday.”
Crude oil began spilling from a ruptured pipeline on Feb. 4 near Maturin.
Monagas state Gov. Jose Gregorio Briceno declared a “state of emergency” following the spill, halting water distribution and closing schools in the state’s capital of Maturin, which is located approximately 255 miles (410 kilometers) northeast of Caracas
Representatives of Venezuela’s state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., or PDVSA, have not revealed how much oil leaked into the river.
Read more from ABC News:
by Deep Green Resistance News Service | Feb 11, 2012 | Toxification
By the Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela — Crude oil that spilled from a ruptured pipeline has blackened a river in eastern Venezuela, and the state oil company said workers are containing the spill.
Workers have removed a “good percentage of the crude” from the Guarapiche River in Monagas state, said Ramiro Ramirez, environmental director of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA.
Ramirez told the state-run Venezuelan News Agency on Friday that workers have been using absorbent barriers to block the crude in the river. He said they have also shut off water intakes along the river, where a drinking water purification plant is located.
State oil company officials said a pipe that transports crude to a processing plant ruptured on Feb. 4. Ramirez didn’t say how much crude has spilled. He said officials were investigating what caused the accident.
Gov. Jose Gregorio Briceno said earlier in the week that the government had declared an emergency in Monagas state after the spill forced officials to halt normal water distribution to parts of the city of Maturin, the Venezuela television station Globovision reported.
Briceno said classes have been canceled at schools in affected areas, and public offices have reduced hours due to the water supply problems.
From the Washington Post:
