Drilling in Ecuador’s Amazon Basin

1
Drilling in Ecuadors Amazon Basin

• By Megan Bell
• Ecol 474

2
The Amazon Basin in Ecuador

• -The entire Amazon Basin covers 6,100,000km² of
  South America
• -In Ecuador, it is nearly 40 of the country
• -Home to 500,000 people
• -Amazing wildlife and plant species Freshwater
  dolphins, toucans, 100 sp butterflies, orchids

3
Oil Drilling in Ecuador

• Oil reserves proven 4.4-4.6 billion barrels in
  the Oriente
• Texaco the first company to drill in 1967
• Now there are 16 companies Petroecuador, 3
  private Ecuadorian companies, 12 Foreign
  companies http//publications.paho.org/english/TE
  MA_San_bastian.pdf
• Petroecuador accounts for 55 of the total
  output, Private companies account for 45
• Oil export accounts for 40 of Ecuadors earnings

4
Drilling Continued

• May 2006, Petroecuador took over Occidental
  Petroleum Corp, the largest privately owned oil
  company in Ecuador
• President Alfredo Palacio has been under pressure
  to expel Oxy for exploiting natural resources
  without benefit to natives
• The government claims Oxy made illegal transfers
  with other companies without receiving permission
• Since the takeover, production has decreased 4
• Fear Petroecuador will not be able to keep up
  same production rate as Americans did

5
Oil Road
Drilling Rig
Trans-Ecuador Pipeline
http//www.uweb.ucsb.edu/eschniter/AMAZONIA/oil.h
tml
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Pollution in the Oriente

• Exploratory wells create 4,000 cubic meters of
  waste
• Commonly disposed into open pits which eventually
  let the untreated waste into the environment
• If site is going to be drilled, waste increases
  to 4.3 million gallons of discharge water every
  day, most released as untreated into pits, and 53
  million cubic feet of gas burned without
  regulations

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Environmental Studies

• 1987 found high levels of oil and grease in
  water near production sites, low dissolved oxygen
  had damaged aquatic ecosystem (36 samples taken)
• 1989 crude oil was regularly dumped into forests
  and water system (187 wells sampled)
• 1994 concentrations of polynuclear aromatic
  hydrocarbons 10 to 10,000 times higher than EPA
  recommendations
• 1998 contamination of total petroleum
  hydrocarbons (TPH) in areas of drilling, none
  found in areas without drilling (46 streams)
• No studies of impact of pollution on fish and
  lack of information on soil pollution

8
Burning Gas
Open pit of oil waste
Open pool of waste water
Gas flare
http//www.newtopiamagazine.net/archives/content/i
ssue17/features/ecuador.php
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Oil Spills

• 1984 A total of 294,000 gallons spilled into
  the Napo River, ran black for a week
• 1992 275,000 gallons spilled
• 1992 approx 30 spills totaling 16.8 million
  gallons
• Jan-Sept 2006 117 oil spills recorded

10
http//www.pnm.my/mtcp/participatingcountries.htm
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Oil spills continued

• Many drilling stations in national parks
• Yasuni largest protected area, home to 4,000
  flowering plants, over 600 birds and animal
  species
• Cuyabeno second largest protected area, 580 bird
  species, 9 species primates, also have freshwater
  dolphins, manatees, giant anacondas

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http//www.geocities.com/cuyabeno_nomadtrek/ecuado
r.html
http//www.ecuador-travel.net/biodiversity.parks-y
asuni20.jpg
http//www.birdlist.org/sam/Ecuador/cuyabeno1.htm
http//www.planetecuador.net/parks.htm
http//www.nyu.edu/projects/difiore/yasuni/researc
h.html
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Lawsuit against Texaco

• 1993 30,000 native Ecuadorians sued Texaco with
  charges of 18 billion gallons of produced water
  dumped into rivers and streams
• 2002 Trial moved to Ecuador and decision has
  yet to be made

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Health concerns

• Children are born with fused fingers, deformed
  eyes, teenagers have tumors and amputated arms
  and legs
• Several studies have shown health risks involved
  in living near oil fields
• 1993 communities in oil producing areas have
  higher mortality rates, malnutrition, dermatitis,
  skin mycosis, higher abortion rates
• 1994 study reported skin problems for natives
  living in oil-contaminated areas
• 1998 increase in cancer among males living in
  oil-producing village within the Oriente
• 2000 increase cancer rate in men and women
  living in areas with drilling for more than 20
  years

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What should be done?

• Five interrelated actions
• Ecuadorian government needs to asses
  environmental situation in the Oriente region
• Clean up the damage and prevent further damage
  from happening
• Oil companies need to change their processes
  minimize impacts and work with the natives to
  help them receive benefits
• Natives need to be educated on environmental
  plans and have them accessible

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Actions continued

• Health impact assessments need to be integrated
  into policy development and evaluation
• Community consultation and participation crucial
  for assessing impact on env and health
• Community organizations need to work with
  regional, national, and international
  environmental groups to enforce the new
  constitution
• New constitution states that oil companies need
  to consult communities before oil exploration
• Trade policies need to be shifted towards
  environmental sustainability and social justice

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Conclusion

• Ecuador has large oil reserves within the Oriente
  region of the country
• Ecuadors economy depends on oil export
• Drilling the Amazon has caused severe
  environmental impacts and major health issues for
  natives

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Questions??
19
Sources

• San Sebastion, M., Hurtig, A. 2004. Oil
  exploitation in the Amazon basin of Ecuador a
  public health emergency. Pan Am J Public Health
  15(3).
• Hurtig, A., San Sebastion, M. 2005.
  Epidemiology vs epidemiology the case of oil
  exploitation in the Amazon basin of Ecuador.
  International Journal of Epidemiology
  34(5)1170-1172.
• San Sebastián, M., Armstrong, M., Cordoba, J. A.,
  Stephens, C. Exposures and cancer
• incidence near oil fields in the Amazon basin of
  Ecuador. Occup Environ Med 5851722.
• Smith, Geri. 2006. In Ecuador, One Slippery Oil
  Patch Oxy is out and PetroEcuador is in, but can
  the state company keep things flowing. (Company
  overview). Business Week 4050.
• The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
  2006. 18 November 2006.
• lthttps//www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/in
  dex.htmlgt.
• Oil Spill Labeled Sabotage. 2006. Oil Spill
  Intelligence Report 2940.
• Hearn, Kelly. 2006. Big Oil on Trial. The
  Environmental Magazine 172.
• Ecuador Cancels an Oil Deal With Occidental
  Petroleum. 2006. The New York Times section
  C12.

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Picture sources

• http//www.oas.org/dsd/Events/english/Documents/OS
  DE_8Amazon.pdf
• http//publications.paho.org/english/TEMA_San_bast
  ian.pdf http//www.uweb.ucsb.edu/eschniter/
  AMAZONIA/oil.html
• http//www.lostworldadventures.com/countries/ecuad
  or/regions/ amazon.htm
• http//www.newtopiamagazine.net/archives/content/i
  ssue17/features/ ecuador.php
• http//www.birdlist.org/sam/Ecuador/cuyabeno1.htm
• http//www.ecuador-travel.net/biodiversity.parks-y
  asuni20.jpg
• http//www.world66.com/southamerica/ecuador/amazon
  basin/lib/gallery/ showimage?pic/southamerica/ecu
  ador/amazonbasin/amazon_basin_ecuad