Yet Another Ecological Tragedy

IT HAS been said that lightning never strikes twice in the same place, but that does not apply to oil tankers. Twice in the last 20 years, the port of La Coruña in northwest Spain has been sullied by a massive oil spill.

In the early morning of December 3, 1992, the Greek tanker Aegean Sea foundered on the rocks jutting out from the headland on which La Coruña stands. Within hours the tanker broke in two, and seven of its nine tanks were ablaze. An enormous column of dense black smoke marked the site of what Spanish president Felipe González called “an ecological catastrophe.”

The Aegean Sea was carrying nearly 80,000 tons of North Sea crude oil, and the day after the accident, a 20-square-mile [50 sq km] oil slick began to invade the four nearby estuaries. Sixteen years ago the tanker Urquiola sank in the entrance to the same harbor, contaminating the coast with more than 100,000 tons of crude oil.

Apart from the extensive damage caused to marine life, thousands of fishermen, some of whom have only just received compensation for the previous disaster, have their livelihood threatened once again. Why are there so many tanker accidents? Although there were heavy seas on the night of this latest accident, human error is thought to be the principal cause of the disaster.

Ironically, the Aegean Sea ran aground just a hundred yards [90 m] from a lighthouse​—the oldest working lighthouse in the world—​the symbol of La Coruña. It was erected nearly two thousand years ago by the Romans, who knew the dangers of these coastal waters. The present lighthouse, which preserves the remains of the Roman artifact, still flashes its warning light. Sadly, on the night of December 3, 1992, that warning went unheeded.

[Picture Credit Line on page 31]

Foto Blanco