In mid-January, 2022, an oil spill covered Peru’s coast just north of the capital Lima. Peru has called it “The worst environmental disaster in recent history.”

It happened when an oil tanker was discharging oil into the La Pampilla refinery controlled by the Spanish energy giant Repsol. 

Peru’s coast, along the Pacific Ocean, is one of the world’s richest fisheries. The country is the largest producer of fishmeal – a ground powder used for animal feed. 

The oil spill has threatened not only this big business but also a delicate ecosystem. 

The impact of the spill has devastated swathes of Peru’s Pacific coastline but, as CGTN’s Dan Collyns reports, the finger of blame is being pointed in many directions.