THE PRESTIGE OIL SPILL
10 years have already passed of the The Prestige oil spill. An oil spill in
front of the coast of Galicia (Spain), which was caused by the sinking of an oil tanker in 2002, causing the largest environmental disaster happened in Spain and Portugal. The oil spill polluted kilometres and kilometres of coasts in Spain, France and Portugal.
The 13th of November, the Liberian oil tanker, the Prestige, was caught in a storm, near the shore of Galicia, and suffered a leak.
The 15th, the ship was evacuated and the 18th the leak disappeared.
But the real accident happened the 19th of November, while the Prestige was surfing to 250 Km of “la costa de la Muerte” in Galicia, the ship broke in two parts, releasing 77,000 tons of oil that was transporting.
The marine life suffered pollution from the Prestige for at least ten years due to the type of oil spilt, which contain toxic chemicals that poisoned them.
Thousands of volunteers started the cleaning of the coasts, but after the working of months, more than half of the oil had been lost in the sea.
Years later, in March 2006, new oil slicks were detected near the place of the sinking of the Prestige. Investigators found that the slicks were of the same type of oil the "Prestige" carried.
by Arturo García
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