Sao Paulo, Brazil (dailynewyorknews) – Chevron was fined 28 million dollars for an oil spill off the coast of the country and could face additional sanctions, state media reported Monday.
The flight from Rio de Janeiro state has stopped, said Curt Trennepohl, president of the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, depending on the state-run Agencia Brasil. The residual oil in the rocks, however, can still rise to the surface for a few days, he said.
Trennepohl said Chevron was fined $ 28 million and could face sanctions if there is evidence the company failed in performing its emergency plan, Agencia Brasil reported.
Rio de Janeiro Environment Secretary Carlos Minc criticized drilling contractor Transocean, accusing the company of trying to drill at a pressure too high, given the geology of the seabed.
“This accident was preventable. … It was incompetence. It is a crime against the environment, “said the Brazilian TV Globo.
A spokesman said the company Transocean cooperates with the authorities, but declined to provide further information.
“Transocean continues to cooperate fully with Chevron, the operator of the well, and the Brazilian authorities in all aspects of this case,” spokesman Guy Cantwell said.
Transocean owns and operates the Deepwater Horizon drilling, which exploded last year, the start of the worst oil spill in U.S. history. The company remains entangled in litigation with BP and Halliburton on the responsibility of the eruption of 2010. A U.S. government report released in September said all responsibility for three shares of the companies of the disaster, which led to more than 200 million gallons of oil being released into the Gulf of Mexico.
Chevron has admitted liability for oil spill off the coast of Brazil in the Atlantic in a statement Sunday, but said he was still trying to calculate how much oil had leaked to the site exploration off Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil National Petroleum Agency estimated the total volume of oil released at between 5,000 and 8,000 barrels (between 210 000 and 336.000 gallons), according to Chevron.
“Chevron takes full responsibility for this incident,” Chevron Brazil Country Manager George Buck said in the statement of the company. ”We are determined to deploy the resources until the brightness can not be detected.”
During the weekend, Minc accused Chevron of underestimating the amount of oil had spilled.
Buck has denied the accusation, saying Agencia Brasil that it was difficult to define the dimension of the problem.
Last week, the Brazilian agency of the federal police said it was investigating the spill, saying those responsible could face sentences of up to five years in prison if convicted.
The oil from Brazil and gas regulator said the spill disperses and moves away from the Brazilian coast, so it does not seem to threaten to Rio’s famous beaches. But it raises questions about how Brazil is ready to develop its offshore “pre-salt” deposits, which are expected to transform the country into a major exporter of oil in the coming years.
Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/21/world/americas/brazil-oil-spill/index.html?hpt=ibu_c2
