This is a tough situation for Correa. It doesn't help that Repsol just spilled 500 bbls of oil along with 2000 bbls of waste water in Block 16. This was caused by the rupture of a 20" pipe that was over 11 years old, and contaminated 3000 square meters of adjacent land, including four small farms [1].

You have to ask yourself, how old are the rest of these pipes, what quality of steel was used, and how good were the welds? This doesn't sound like a problem that's going away any time soon. I hesitate to use Nigeria as a comparison, but it could be that bad. This is sweltering hot jungle - not very kind to substandard pipe - and I'll bet there's a lot of it out there.

In the poor choice of words category, calling it "Childish Environmentalism" doesn't help much. I'm sure these native people are real tired of being treated like children and won't take kindly to the characterization. "Unrealistic Environmentalism" might have been a better phrase. It may seem like a fine distinction, but words carry a lot of weight in that part of the world. Words that might fetch you a punch in the nose up here can get you killed down there, which is why people tend to be more polite.

Another factor that comes into play here is the army. As I understand it, they are the main security contractors for most of the oil complex, as well as some mining areas, including us. As such, they have a vested interest which is opposed to these native groups. The last thing Correa needs is a confrontation between the army and indigenous people in those areas. I don't think we have much to worry about - Zamora-Chinchipe is a traditional mining area and the people there seem generally supportive of us and Ecuacorriente. The main issue in our area will be tailing ponds, and those must be well built, including backup containments. Ecuador is a land of earthquakes and floods, and these structures absolutely must not fail.

[1] source:
http://www.elcomercio.com/noticiaEC....


ebear