The politics of pollution

www.sun-sentinel.com By Joseph B. Frazier The Associated Press Posted February 26 2003

MARACAIBO, Venezuela · Under the scorching sun on Lake Maracaibo, thousands of oil wells suck up natural gas and crude oil, the wealth of Venezuela. But much more crude than usual has ended up in the water since oil workers joined a national strike against President Hugo Chávez in December, environmentalists and government critics contend. Although the walkout against Chávez has fizzled, many oil workers remain off the job. Critics say the shortage of employees and lack of know-how among those who are working is causing severe environmental damage. The state-owned oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, denies that. It insists spills are small and rare and that they are quickly controlled. It also blames many of the spills on striker sabotage. The situation is difficult to check independently. The oil fields have been sealed off by army and national guard troops who enforce a no-fly zone over the lake and turn back boats carrying journalists trying to get a look. "They won't let us overfly the lake to look for oil slicks anymore," said Eddie Ramírez, a former executive for the oil monopoly. "It's all militarized now. We still have people working in the oil fields who give us information. But it is getting harder to get." Crude is critical in Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest exporter and a major supplier to the United States. Lake Maracaibo, 325 miles west of Caracas, is a major producer. Since World War I, about 14,000 wells have been drilled in the lake. About 8,000 are active. Estimates vary, but between 15,000 and 28,000 miles of pipes and tubes snake along the bottom. "There is no operation in the world like this," said Felix Rodríguez, recently named by Chávez's government to head oil operations in western Venezuela. Oil operations are spread over 60 percent of the lake's 5,200 square miles. Latticed derricks poke skyward from platforms. Black pumping units bob up and down relentlessly. More modern wells rise a few feet above the water and are driven by electric pumps. About 35,000 of the monopoly's 40,000 employees went on strike Dec. 2, joining the opposition general strike aimed at forcing out Chávez, whom they blame for the country's political and economic strife. The general strike failed, but the oil walkout continues. Chávez has fired more than 11,000 oil strikers and split the oil monopoly into eastern and western divisions to tighten government control over operations. Production is creeping back to pre-strike levels, but the government says it's hampered by sabotage. The private Venezuelan Environmental Foundation said it flew over the lake on Dec. 11, before the flight ban, and sighted 17 spills. The foundation said one well was spewing oil and water more than 30 feet into the air, and experts estimated it was spilling 1,100 barrels a day. Lenin Herrera, a chemical engineer and former head of the Institute for the Conservation and Control of Lake Maracaibo, said spills of petroleum and production chemicals are a major source of contamination. "There have been unjustifiable spills since the strike. There was a spill in January that went three or four days without being fixed. Later a well spilled for two or three days," he said.