Oil Spill Draws Fire From Group

R I O   D E   J A N E I R O, Brazil, July 21 -- With a major oil spill apparentlyunder control, environmentalists on Thursday stepped up demands forthe government to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

In an open letter, the World Wildlife Fund called on federal oilgiant Petrobras to show how it will clean up and monitor the IguacuRiver valley in southern Brazil, where more than 1 million gallonsof crude oil spewed from a burst refinery pipeline on Sunday.

The group also called on the government to order an outside,independent review of the company’s environmental safeguards.

Barriers Contain Spill

The spill spread down the Iguacu from the Getulio Vargasrefinery in Araucaria, some 435 miles southwest of Rio.Environmentalists and Petrobras workers said it was contained byfloating barriers above the farming town of Balsa Nova, about 30miles downstream from the refinery.

Much of the floating oil was diverted through channels into sandpits near the river, where it was sucked into tanker trucks.Petrobras said fewer than 79,000 gallons remained in the river.

The Iguacu runs more than 500 miles through Parana state topostcard-famous Iguacu Falls, near Brazil’s border with Argentinaand Paraguay. A spokeswoman for the Parana State EnvironmentalProtection Agency said it was “almost impossible” for the oil toreach the falls.

Late Wednesday, the National Petroleum Agency authorized therefinery to resume using the pipeline.

Fishing Banned

But the environmental impact still is unclear. Some oil-coatedbirds, animals and fish were found dead, and authorities bannedfishing and warned resident of river towns not to drink the water.

The World Wildlife Fund noted that the Iguacu River runs through twoimportant ecosystems of the Atlantic Forest and is home to manyrare species of fish because of its isolation by the falls.

“The areas are unique, with a high biodiversity and extremelyendangered,” the group said.

On Thursday, some 2,000 temporary workers in boots and glovespatrolled the river bank, picking up oil-soaked debris. Petrobrassaid its cleanup would take months and would include removingoil-soaked mud and sediment from the river bed and banks.