Ecuador is in a deep economic and health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has spread seriously in the city of Guayaquil, in the province of Guayas. Amid that crisis, at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7, part of the riverbed of the Coca River, located on the San Rafael sector and on the border between the provinces of Napo and Sucumbíos, sank. The resulting sinkhole caused the collapse of upstream infrastructure belonging to the Trans-Ecuadorian Oil Pipeline System (known by its Spanish acronym SOTE) and the heavy crude pipeline (operated by private company OCP), which then caused an oil spill on the Coca.
As the incident occurred in an area with abundant water, the oil quickly reached the Napo River. If containment operations there fail, the oil could reach the Amazon River in Peru. Kichwa indigenous communities living downstream of the spill have already denounced the contamination of the tributary and have expressed concerns about the possible death of fish and the impact on fishing, one of their only available subsistence activities during the pandemic.
This disaster is not an isolated event, but is related to the collapse of the San Rafael waterfall on Feb. 2. This was caused by an erosion phenomenon that happened upstream of the waterfall; hydrologists and geologists are extremely concerned and almost two months ago warned authorities of the dangers this event posed, but their claims were not acted upon.
They said it would happen, but nothing was done about it. The country should start talking about the future of the oil pipeline bases, the highway, and the catchment dam of the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant, said Emilio Cobo, coordinator of the IUCN’s South America water program.
In the report published by Mongabay, Cobo said very serious impacts may be registered on infrastructure in the Coca River channel between the waterfall and the dam that could compromise the future of the hydroelectric plant. The SOTE and OCP pipelines are just two pieces of infrastructure found along this channel.
The magnitude of the regressive erosion is much stronger than I imagined, Cobo said. I thought it was going to be 4 or 5 meters [13 or 16 feet] deep, but the pictures show at least 15 meters [49 feet]. Also, the rainy season that just began further accelerates the erosive process in the river.
Carolina Bernal, a geologist with a Ph.D. in hydrosedimentology, knows in depth the dynamics of sediments in water bodies. For years, she has studied the mechanisms of the Coca River, especially the area where the San Rafael waterfall and the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant are located.
When the waterfall collapsed, people were not sure if the natural phenomenon was related to the presence of the hydroelectric plant. I had doubts that the Coca Codo Sinclair plant influenced what happened with the San Rafael waterfall [on Feb. 2], but now, after seeing the aggressiveness of the phenomenon, it can be linked with the sediment management of the project. Hydroelectric plants must be planned very carefully, Bernal said.
Mongabay contacted the dam operator in February to ask about the erosion of the San Rafael waterfall but received no response. After the collapse that broke the OCP and SOTE pipelines on April 7, the company used its social media platform only to repeat messages sent by Petroecuador and the Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Resources.
Bernal said the regressive erosion occurring upstream of the waterfall is also very aggressive and fast-paced. In my opinion, this phenomenon will not stop until the river recovers the dynamic equilibrium altered by the project. If this is the case, I think that hydrosedimentological studies are necessary, and a long-term sediment management plan should be created. Things like this happen when project [developers] don’t conduct good studies before starting construction, she says.
Alfredo Carrasco, a geologist, natural resources management consultant and former secretary of natural capital at the Ministry of Environment (MAE), said he believes the collapse of the San Rafael waterfall to be a natural phenomenon. However, on Feb. 18 he shared with Mongabay his concerns regarding the inaction of the authorities following the severity of the regressive erosion process.
As I told you a month and a half ago, the speed of the regressive erosion was too serious for it to not have been analyzed. The OCP and SOTE should have done it. I hope that Coca Codo Sinclair is now analyzing it, Carrasco said.
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