Barrancabermeja orders Ecopetrol to contain hydrocarbon spills

The municipal government of Barrancabermeja, Colombia, announced sanctions and urgent remediation measures against oil firm Ecopetrol after a suspected hydrocarbon leak from its Cenit subsidiary contaminated the San Silvestre wetland. The spill caused the death of more than a thousand fish and raised concerns about vegetation, smaller fauna and sediment quality.

Local authorities imposed a preventive order, demanding Ecopetrol carry out immediate containment, cleaning and mitigation actions. The city opened a sanction process and referred the case to the prosecutor’s office for aggravated environmental contamination. This incident follows three earlier hydrocarbon sightings this year in the nearby El Llanito wetland, where residents also reported oily films and a decline in water levels, threatening the endangered West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) that relies on the area.

The municipality’s Environment Secretariat stressed that the repeated contamination jeopardises artisanal fisheries and food security for local communities, prompting protests and calls for faster remediation.