8 Ways To Find The Best Web Design Agencies For Your…Outdated oil pipelines built by foreign companies in the Andean Amazon have repeatedly put at risk ecosystems and Indigenous communities in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, exposing them to oil spills and wide-scale contamination.
The exposure of these key infrastructure assets to sabotage is most evident in Colombia. Between 1986 and 2015, petroleum infrastructure was attacked more than 1,000 times in Putumayo, triggering at least 160 oil spills. Marxist militias justified their action by claiming they were resisting exploitation by foreign oil companies. However, Indigenous communities suffered most of the impacts of their actions .
Petroecuador began a programme to bury the lowland components of the SOTE system in 2013, an investment that dramatically reduced incidents until 2020 when an ‘act of God’ severed not only the SOTE but also the OTC and a third pipeline , causing a massive oil slick on the Río Coca that impacted downstream habitats and communities all the way to Peru.
Throughout this period, deliberate acts of sabotage have released thousands of barrels of oil into the rivers and streams. Social unrest has caused the ONP to cease operations for weeks, sometimes even months at a time, exacerbating the already challenging operational environment in the Selva Norte production area.