Several rivers in the Amazon contaminated due to pipeline rupture in Ecuador

On Tuesday, April 7, the Trans-Ecuadorian Pipeline System (SOTE) suffered a rupture, due to which crude oil seeped into the Coca River and from there into the Napo River, where the indigenous Kichwa live. This was reported by the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) with reference to local media. According to the state-owned operating company Petroecuador, the pipeline – which had a capacity of several hundred thousand barrels of crude oil per day – has now been shut down.

According to the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (Confeniae), the organization has sent a message to the Peruvian indigenous communities downstream, warning them that the crude oil is likely to reach them in the coming days and to contaminate the waters in their territory.

The pipeline rupture was caused by a sinkhole that occurred in the area a few days earlier. This sinkhole is also blamed for the recent "disappearance" of the San Rafael waterfall. The reasons for the formation of the sinkhole are still unclear. Due to the volatile political situation and the serious consequences of the coronavirus epidemic in the country, it is currently difficult to obtain credible information, the STP stated.