An oil spill from the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago has contaminated local beaches and is now drifting toward Grenada and Venezuela, officials said Thursday.
The leak was discovered on February 7th, It was a mystery at first. Trinidad and Tobago's coast guard found oil in the sea and determined it was an overturned barge with no indication of its crew or origin. As fuel continued to leak from the ship, an oil slick soon covered nearby beaches along Tobago's southwestern coastline.
Authorities later announced that the barge had been towed from Panama to nearby Guyana before any mishaps occurred. It is unclear who owned the ship, whether anyone was on board when it sank, or whether there were any injuries.
It's unclear how much oil has already leaked and how much more is on the barge.
Farley Augustine, Chief Secretary of Tobago, said: told Reuters this week The oil slick entered Grenada's waters. Tobago attempted to address the leak, but was unable to do so as the ship swayed dangerously in the water.
![Employees of the national Heritage Oil and Gas Company clean up a spill that reached Rockley Bay Beach in southwestern Tobago on February 11.](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/65ced2d02200003600ad6492.jpeg?cache=9xzDoM0Egw&ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
![Employees of the national Heritage Oil and Gas Company clean up a spill that reached Rockley Bay Beach in southwestern Tobago on February 11.](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/65ced2d02200003600ad6492.jpeg?cache=9xzDoM0Egw&ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
Akash Boodan/Associated Press
„Without being able to plug the leak and having no information as to how much fuel is on the barge or what exactly is in it, there is no way forward other than containment and skimming,“ Augus said. Ting said.
Officials have set up a 40-foot perimeter around the site to control the oil slick, while cleanup crews are working to clean the shore.
„There are many questions, and now is the best time to answer them,“ Augustin later told reporters. “We need to know the volumes and supplies you were carrying, so what we have been handling, what we have been walking, what we have been swimming, what we have cleared from the shore. I need to know what you were trying to do.”
caribbean country declared a national emergency Oil contaminated coastal areas earlier this week. Officials said the clean-up costs were likely to be an „extraordinary expense“ for Tobago, but declared the effort a national priority.
![The scene of the oil spill that occurred in Rockley Bay, Tobago on February 10th.](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/65ced3042500003600db9ecc.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
![The scene of the oil spill that occurred in Rockley Bay, Tobago on February 10th.](https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/65ced3042500003600db9ecc.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale)
Clement Williams/AFP via Getty Images
Environmental groups said the spill underscores the need for President Joe Biden to permanently ban offshore drilling in U.S. waters, calling such exploration „a period of recklessness.“
“Oil and oceans do not mix, and this tragic oil spill from a capsized ship off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago is the latest devastating example,” said Oceania Campaign Counsel Alexia Best. statement. “As a Trinidad and Tobago citizen, I am personally hurt by this sudden crisis. Tobago's natural beauty is an important attraction for tourism, and this oil spill is a direct threat to that beauty. ”
washington post Note Trinidad and Tobago is the largest oil producer in the Caribbean, with the industry accounting for more than a third of the nation's gross domestic product.