A Year of Offshore Oil Spills Prompts Growing Concern in Mexico

In early March, Andrés Palma was watching his children build a sandcastle on the beach in El Bosque, south-east Mexico. The fisher soon noticed that something was not quite right: his children were playing in sand laced with crude oil residue.

Palma was witnessing the consequences of a huge oil spill that happened in February, which triggered a 30-day fishing ban and has contaminated fishing grounds along the Gulf coast. Its source was initially disputed but in mid-April, the government said the source was a leaking pipeline in the offshore Abkatun oil field, in the Gulf’s south-eastern corner. In the months since the ban has been lifted, fishers like Palma continue to deal with a crashed local market and fish contamination fears.

“Here, if you don’t go out fishing, you don’t eat,” explains the 31-year-old.

The government initially denied any link to the state oil company, Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex). In its April announcement, however, the government confirmed that three state officials had been removed in relation to alleged failures to contain the spill and communicate with the public.

This story was originally published by The Maritime Executive. Read the full story at The Maritime Executive →