A landslide caused the rupture in the 36 inch pipe buried two meters underground that transports heavy crude oil from the Amazon to the port city of Esmeraldas.

About 5,500 barrels of crude (the equivalent of 23 tanker trucks) spìlled into the Winchele estuary, four kilometres from the Esmeraldas-San Mateo highway and about 100 feet away from the Esmeraldas River.

The OCP pipeline was built in 2002. It transports crude (up to 450,000 barrels a day) from the Lago Agrio region in the Amazon rainforest, over the Andes mountains to the Pacific. It is one of Ecuador’s only two pipelines. It will be under repair until April 13, the government says.

According to a press release, they also said the countrys crude export output wont be affected, because there are 2.6 million barrels already in stock.

Management of OCP reported the spill at 6 a.m. yesterday. The Winchele estuary and its creeks supply water to all the cattle farms in the area.

Firefighters, technicians and military personnel are at the site, hoping to prevent the spill from travelling from Winchele into the larger Esmeraldas River which leads to the ocean. They are also on high alert for the possibility of fires.

Seven farmers have reported damages. Antonia Hanze said his cattle and chickens were contaminated with oil when his workers attempted to move the animals to a safe zone. Several media outlets have published photos of waterfowl and fish covered in the black oil.

A YouTube user named Diego Andres Villamar Perez has uploaded several videos showing  the spill.

The same pipeline ruptured in Feb. 1996, just a few kilometres away from the current spill. The disaster, considered the worst of its kind in the province, led to several deaths and huge fire.

Original story