Northwest Spain used a break in poor weather today to extend clean-up operations on more than 100 beaches soiled by oil spilled from a sunken tanker.
Hundreds of soldiers, students and volunteers picked up buckets and shovels to clear sand of the thick, toxic sludge that has washed ashore from the Liberian-registered ship Prestige, which sank on Tuesday 200 kilometres off the stormy Galician coast.
The effort was organised by regional and national authorities after days of rain and high winds gave way to partly sunny, if chilly, conditions that allowed the teams to attack the task unhindered.
"The weather's been that bad that it's been remobilising the oil across the shoreline," said David Oland, a coordinator from a British outfit called Oil Spill Response that helps oil industry and governments tackle such crises.
He was directing 150 students bussed in from nearby Santiago university to clear contaminated sand and scrub rocks on the beach in the town of Seiruga.
Even though bulldozers stood ready, Oland said most of the work had to be carried out by hand to minimise contamination and damage.
"We don't want to remove the beach, we want to remove the oil," he said. Similar scenes were taking place along the 400 kilometres of affected coastline, including at Barizo beach where scores of soldiers were being mobilised.
The deposited oil came from the first slick released by the Prestige as it was towed out to sea after getting into strife in storms last week.
Authorities in Spain, neighbouring Portugal and France fear that at least two other slicks of at least 11,000 tonnes of oil that have been spotted just off the Galician shore may also reach land, further savaging the region's rich wildlife and marine-based economy.
Winds and currents have so far kept them at sea but forecasters have been unable to predict what course they will take.
The 26-year-old ship was carrying 77,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil when its single hull broke apart. A French research submarine was also on its way to where the broken tanker is lying on the sea bed, at a depth of 3,500 metres.
AFP