2024-09-05 22:35:05
The Directorate of the Plan for the Civil Protection of the Island of Gran Canaria-PEIN the Cabildo announced a state of emergency due to a marine pollution incident. The fuel spill occurred between 8:30pm and 9:00pm on Wednesday in the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria during a fuel transfer maneuver to a ship.
Dump three tonnes of fuel oil
All this, after the spill of three tons of fuel oil that occurred this morning, inside the Virgen del Pino dock in Puerto de La Luz and Las Palmas, and which has generated a fuel stain that has left the capital port premises, that until landing in the final hours on Bocabarranco beachaccording to the insular Corporation.
In this way, the Cabildo activated this alert by virtue of the Declaration of the General Directorate of Emergencies due to this event, and in the implementation of the Territorial Emergency Plan for the Civil Protection of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands of Plateca.
The Minister of the Environment, Raúl García Brink, participated in the coordination meeting held in CECOES (Emergency and Security Coordination Center) together with representatives from the city councils of the capital, Telde and the municipalities in the South East, since there is a risk that the fuel spill will reach their coasts.
The spill may harm birds that feed on invertebrates, particularly terns, terns and stoneflies.
And the thing is, at the same moment in which the director made these statements, The fuel oil stain has already reached dimensions of 2.5 kilometers long and 400 meters wideand it was progressing at 0.5 miles per hour, although it was expected to speed up soon due to the currents in the areas it was heading towards.
Natural spaces at risk
In fact, the consultant has specified that “this stain has already been reached on the coast of Telda de La Garita and continues to progress towards the southeast, along a path that places the natural spaces of Jinámar, Tufia and Punta de la Sal in danger.”
Therefore, he traveled to the High Command Post, located in the Restinga area, on the Jinámar coast, from where he was able to witness on the site the evolution of the spill, “which could damage the invertebrates that live in this part of the coast and, with this, it could create conditions for the birds that feed on them, especially the terns, terns and the turning stones”.
In even more detail, the technical person in charge of the Insular Ministry of Environment of the Special Conservation Zone of Jinámar, David Godoy, reported that the fuel stain is coming to the corner of Jinámar beach which is already inside the Sic de Jinámar (Zec de Jinámar), article related to Telde.
Preventing fuel oil from affecting the Jinámar desalination station
From there, he also saw the work being done by Salvamento Marítimo to try to disperse and evaporate the stain, as well as the work being done to prevent the fuel oil from affecting a station Jinámar desalination.
And, as the president of the Cabildo, Antonio Morales, indicated in a previous intervention before the media, “There is always a particular concern that it could reach the production area, manufacturing water and that it could generate a serious problem on the Island. From the Cabildo we will be very careful and we will monitor the evolution of the spill, to provide everything we can to face the problem.”
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