Another Oil Leak Hits Progreso, 12 Days After the Last

Mexico’s Navy and state-owned oil company Pemex put absorbent barriers in the water Tuesday to contain a hydrocarbon leak near the Ciénega de Progreso, the coastal wetland just south of Yucatán’s main port.

The Navy said the leak appeared to come from deteriorating pipelines in the area. Specialists from its marine environmental protection unit at the Ninth Naval Zone joined Pemex operations crews at the site. They placed oleophilic booms, which are floating barriers that attract and soak up oil. The booms were meant to keep the spill from spreading and to mark off the affected area.

Officials did not say how much product escaped, what type of hydrocarbon it was, or how large an area was affected. The Navy’s statement also did not name the pipeline involved or give a precise location. As of Wednesday, no assessment of environmental damage had been made public.

This is the second leak reported in Progreso in less than two weeks and at least the third this year.

Previous leak

On Sept. 17, fisherman Diego Azueta posted video on Facebook of a diesel slick more than 10 meters (33 feet) long. It was near pillar 30 of the old viaduct at the Muelle Fiscal, the arched section of Progreso’s pier. Authorities traced it to a tiny pore in an aging Pemex marine pipeline, and Pemex divers were sent to seal it. Fishermen said it was the third time in less than a year they had spotted fuel slicks off the coast.

In April, fishermen reported slicks under the same pier, one about 300 meters (985 feet) from shore. They linked the leaks to pipes that run alongside the pier from the fuel-unloading facility at Progreso’s remote terminal, the deepwater port at the far end of the world’s longest pier.

Pemex said it detected that leak April 17. The company said it permanently sealed a marine pipeline that was no longer in use, at pillars 35 south and 35 north of the old viaduct. It also said the leak was fully contained and that no oil had reached local beaches.

Fishermen disputed that account. They told reporters there were several cracks in pipelines that were supposed to be out of service. Progreso Mayor Erick Rihani said at the time that he had not received any reports from them.

The Progreso incidents follow a string of Pemex problems in the Gulf of Mexico. In April, the company admitted that a leaking subsea pipeline near its Abkatun platforms off Campeche had caused a spill. That spill tainted about 933 kilometers (580 miles) of shoreline in Veracruz, Tamaulipas, Campeche, and Tabasco. Fishing communities there reported oil-coated nets and smaller catches.

Pemex CEO Víctor Rodríguez Padilla acknowledged that employees had hidden information about that leak, and three officials were removed from their posts. On Sept. 10, another leak was reported at Pemex facilities about 85 kilometers (53 miles) north of Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche.