14 000 liters of crude oil spilled in ecuadorian amazon jungle

SANTA ROSA, Ecuador, Feb 26 (Reuters) - A rupture in Ecuador's second largest oil pipeline has polluted the Santa Rosa river in the lush Amazon jungle and shut off the flow of crude to a Pacific port in the city of Esmeraldas.

A spokesman for the firm running the pipeline said on Thursday the pipeline will be restarted in five days. Meanwhile, dozens of white-suited workers shoveled crude out of the river.

The OCP pipeline, which pumps around 130,000 barrels of heavy crude per day, ruptured late on Wednesday. Export commitments will be covered until repairs are finished, a line spokesman said. The rupture was the first of the privately run line since it started operations in 2003.

Repeated oil spills by foreign companies and the country's state oil company, Petroecuador, are a threat to rare species of jaguars and river dolphins in the Amazon jungle, where most of the Andean country's oil operations are located.

Local resident Margarita Aigaje has no more clear water to drink or shower with after more than 14,000 barrels of crude polluted the river in front of her hut in one of the biggest Ecuador oil spills in years.

"I don't know if this river will ever be clean again," said Aigaje, 39, as she skinned a pig only a few yards from the oil-tainted river. "We are trying to collect rainwater because we can't drink from the river anymore."

Overlooking dark pools used to recover spilled oil, OCP line spokesman Eugenio Naranjo said the leak was contained and clean up crews worked around the clock to prevent further contamination.

Representatives of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, or Conaie, and regional organizations warned Tuesday about the effects of the oil spill in an area of the Amazon and asked that a state of emergency be declared in the affected communities.

Conaie leader Marlon Santi told a press conference that some 47 indigenous communities were hit by the Feb. 25 spill of some 14,000 barrels of crude when an earthquake cracked open an OCP pipeline.

The spill, which Santi called “worrying,” took place near the Santa Rosa River, and contaminated its waters and those of the Napo and Coca rivers.

The Indians asked the government for “urgent help” to diminish “the ecological, social and health damages” since, according to Santi, communities in the area are in “a desperate situation – besides life itself, the most important resources are water and crops.”

He said there were “nine people in a bad state of health” and complained that “there’s no serious social assistance.”

According to Blanca Grefa, head of an Indian organization in Orellana province, also polluted by the oil spill, the area is “super contaminated.” She said that besides “neighbors who were affected,” the fish and birds are also endangered.

The indigenous leader said that the communities are concerned because they have nowhere to get water and said that it’s only in cities of the sector where OCP has bothered to provide drinking water.

An OCP-Ecuador official told Efe that, after the local government in the city of Coca decided to suspend potable water service as a preventative measure, the company sent 10 water tankers to help boost supplies.

"We've adopted an exaggerated preventative policy to avoid any harm" to the local population, the OCP-Ecuador official said, adding that this measure was taken after the discovery of "some traces" of crude oil in another nearby river.

In a statement, the company said that it was permanently monitoring the water quality of the Coca River and that "the clean-up and containment (efforts) are continuing 24 hours a day even though intense rain in the sector is making the work difficult."