Soyo - The French oil company Total Saturday took the responsibility for the 35 cubic metre crude oil spill that occurred on 22 October in block 32, some 93 miles off the coast of Soyo, Zaire province, during a crude oil loading operation.
In a press release, which Angop had access to, the oil company said that several human and logistical resources had been mobilised for operations to disperse, contain and mitigate possible damage to the marine ecosystem.
According to the operator, efforts are also being made to minimise the possible impact of this spill on communities and the environment, and the accident and its consequences are being duly monitored by oil company experts.
It should be noted that technicians from the Ministries of Culture, Tourism and the Environment, Mineral Resources and Oil have been working since Friday in the locality to find out the real situation on the ground.
TOTAL, which has been in the country since 1953, was the first oil company to operate in Angola and currently produces 600,000 barrels of oil per day, which represents around 40 percent of national production.
It operates in blocks 16,17,17/06, 20/11, 21/09,32 and 48 and has participatory interests in blocks 0, 14, Lianzi and Angola LNG.
Coastal localities affected by the oil spill
The negative impact of this crude oil spill has begun to be felt by the 1,500 inhabitants of the coastal villages of Cavugi, Kifuma and Impanga, in the municipality of Soyo, whose stains have reached the Nzombo River, located nearby where the population draws water for domestic consumption.
According to the region's chief, Sebastião Simba Nkengue, who was speaking to Angop, the patches of this leak have reached the village of Tombe and the area of campo-8, where the water wells used by the population are located.
The traditional leader fears health risks with the consumption of this water by villagers who have no other source to obtain this liquid, so it requested the intervention of local administrative authorities to avoid the worst.
