Residents and wildlife on Mexico's coastline bear the brunt from Pemex oil leak

Guillermo Risso, a community council president in Puerto?Ceiba, a coastal town near the refinery in Mexico's?southern?state of Tabasco, saw luminous flashes before dawn on the morning of March 17. He assumed that the Olmeca Refinery, owned and operated by Mexico's State Oil Company?Pemex was on fire. Risso is the president of the community council in Puerto Ceiba. The town is located near the refinery, which is located in Mexico's southern state of Tabasco. "We saw fires and were concerned," he said.

Five people died in a fire caused by oily spillage from the refinery on a nearby highway. The fire was ignited by a passing vehicle.

The company has cleaned up approximately 3,453 barrels of fossil fuels in strategic areas near or within the refinery.

The refinery also installed containment walls along the Rio Seco which surrounds it and connects with?the vast Mecoacan laguna where oysters are harvested by fishermen.

Pemex has not responded to further requests for comment.

Alvaro Hernandez, a biologist, said: "The currents can be deceptive and uncontrolled waste could end up in the lagoon."

Hernandez said that for the time being, the fishermen who have been affected by the spill plan to continue selling their catch over the Easter holiday, as they 'cannot withstand the income loss caused by this crisis.

The Olmeca spill is the latest and most serious issue that has plagued the new refinery. Other issues include underproduction, a budget overrun, and delays meeting goals.

ADDITIONAL SPILLS

This spill follows another one reported early in March, off the coasts between the states of Tabasco & Veracruz.

The spill was investigated by environmental authorities, but the company responsible had not been identified.

Sheinbaum previously said that the oil could have come from an offshore tanker. However, given the extent of damage, some experts are now beginning to doubt this theory.

The government agency in charge of environmental issues in the energy industry said it had not yet estimated the extent of the spillage.

Olmeca refinery's production capacity is 340,000 barrels a day (bpd), but it has not reached this because the government has yet to ramp up production.

The Mexican government is trying to reduce its dependence on imports from the United States.

Gulf of Mexico Reef Corridor Network - a group of fishermen's groups, indigenous groups and environmentalists - recently issued a warning regarding the presence of crude oil on the coasts of Tuxpan, Cazones and northern Veracruz.

The oil has affected at least seven sea-turtles, two dolphins and two manatees. One pelican was also found, but most of the animals were dead.

It said that the mangroves of Laguna del Ostion in Veracruz have been affected by red, black and white.

The hairy crab and blue crab are protected species in this ecosystem, along with otters, migratory bird and other otters. Reporting by Luis Manuel Lopez, Paraiso; writing by Inigo Alex; editing by Stefanie Eschenbacher and Aurora Ellis

(source: Reuters)