Colombia News | Colombia Reports
  • News
    • General
    • Analysis
    • War and peace
    • Elections
    • Economy
    • Culture
    • Sports
    • Science and Tech
  • Travel
    • General
    • Bogota
    • Medellin
    • Cali
    • Cartagena
    • Antioquia
    • Caribbean
    • Pacific
    • Coffee region
    • Amazon
    • Southwest Colombia
    • Northeast Colombia
    • Central Colombia
  • Data
    • Economy
    • Crime and security
    • War and peace
    • Development
    • Cities
    • Regions
    • Provinces
  • Profiles
    • Organized crime
    • Politics
    • Armed conflict
    • Economy
    • Sports
  • Lite
  • Opinion
  • About us
  • Support us
  • Contact Us
  • Intelligence
  • Advertising
  • Newsletter
Colombia News | Colombia Reports
  • News
    • General
    • Analysis
    • War and peace
    • Elections
    • Economy
    • Culture
    • Sports
    • Science and Tech
  • Travel
    • General
    • Bogota
    • Medellin
    • Cali
    • Cartagena
    • Antioquia
    • Caribbean
    • Pacific
    • Coffee region
    • Amazon
    • Southwest Colombia
    • Northeast Colombia
    • Central Colombia
  • Data
    • Economy
    • Crime and security
    • War and peace
    • Development
    • Cities
    • Regions
    • Provinces
  • Profiles
    • Organized crime
    • Politics
    • Armed conflict
    • Economy
    • Sports
  • Lite
  • Opinion
(Photo: Vanguardia)
News

‘Gasoline thieves’ cause an environmental disaster in Colombia wetlands

by Flora Baker April 4, 2014

An unidentified group spilled 200 barrels of gasoline across Santander wetlands while attempting to illegally tap an EcoPetrol pipeline on Friday morning, reported local media.

The “thieves” reportedly entered a farm located near the road that leads to Barrancabermeja, Bucaramanga, in northeast Colombia. A valve was inserted into a pipeline belonging to Colombia’s state oil company, EcoPetrol, allegedly to siphon off the gasoline.

Colonel Reinaldo Rojas, operational commander of the Bucaramanga Police, told Caracol Radio that the valve exploded, causing around 200 barrels of gasoline to spill across the surrounding wetlands.

MORE: Colombia lowers gasoline prices

The situation was exacerbated when the farm’s owner refused the entry of various EcoPetrol technicians onto the land in an attempt to fix the problem.

MORE: Colombia’s oil will run out by 2020 with no solution in sight

Colonel Rojas said the environmental damage to the surrounding area of wetlands is severe, particularly because local animals use the wetlands for drinking water.

Sources

  • Ladrones de combustible generan emergencia ambiental (El Espectador)
  • Derrame de petroleo genera emergencia ambiental en Santander (Caracol Radio)
environmental damageOil spillSantander

Trending

  • Tensions in Colombia over lost COVID-19 vaccine shots

  • Colombia’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign shows first cracks

  • Coronavirus crisis bankrupted 500K of Colombia’s small businesses

Weekly interviews and news updates

Related articles

  • Bucaramanga: from chaotic no-man’s land to Colombia’s city of parks

  • Giron: Colombia’s heritage town that almost didn’t happen

  • The ‘Royal Road’ to Guane, a beautiful trek with an insane history

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • RSS

@2008-2019 - Colombia Reports. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by Digitale Zaken and Parrolabs


Back To Top