Remediación de los impactos causados por el derrame de petróleo en la laguna de papallacta en ecuador-sur America

Abstract

An affected area of approximate 7.2 ha (hectares) was cleaned and remediated after an oil spill of about 22,000 barrels at the Lagoon of Papallacta. The spill was due to the breakage of the trans-Ecuadorian pipeline. Shores, sediment, water of rivers and the Lagoon of Papallacta were decontaminated. The hydrocarbons in the water were extracted by skimming, adsorption, absorption and filtration processes. The contaminated sediments of the bottom of the lagoon were extracted by suction, dehydrated and transported to landfarming stations for their bioremediation using endemic microorganisms. The initial analyses of total hydrocarbon concentration in the shores of the rivers and the lagoon oscillated between 40,245 and 85,879 milligrams/Liter (mg/L), 4,500 mg/Kg in sediments of the bottom of lagoon and 89 mg/L in the water of the lagoon. The works of remediation were subdivided by logistic convenience in five sections. The cleaning and remediation included the bed of the rivers, rocks, shores of the Lagoon of Papallacta, vegetal material and contaminated water. The remediation reduced the petroleum hydrocarbon levels in grounds to less than 1,000 mg/Kg, in sediments of the lagoon below 500 mg/Kg and in the water of the lagoon below 0,5 mg/L. The values of aromatic polycyclic hydrocarbons in the lagoon water and sediments reached values of less than 1 mg/L. All these values are established as the permissible limits for sensible ecosystems and water for human consumption. The recovery of the ecosystem was confirmed by the presence of benthic invertebrates in the lagoon, which at the beginning of the cleaning activities were absent. Among the organisms recorded were bivalva, gastropods, nematodes, and insect larvae. The remediation in the lagoon area was done without chemical or biological agents.