ブラジル北東部に大量の原油、１３０か所超える海岸に漂着

【リオデジャネイロＡＦＰ＝時事】ブラジル北東部の130か所を超える海岸に大量の原油が漂着している。ジャイル・ボルソナロ大統領は国外から流れ着いたもので、犯罪絡みで海洋投棄された可能性もあるとの見方を示しているが、8日時点でも発生源は明らかになっていない。（写真はブラジル・セルジペ州のビーチに漂着した原油。同州環境局提供）
　原油は９月上旬から漂着し始め、その範囲は大西洋沿岸の２０００キロにわたっている。美しいビーチで知られ、経済を観光業に依存する貧しい北東部９州すべてで確認されている。しかしブラジル政府は先週になってようやく対応を開始した。
　ボルソナロ氏は首都ブラジリアでリカルド・サレス環境相と共に記者会見し、「流出は絶えず続いているわけではない。難破した原油タンカーに由来するものならば、流出は当面続くだろう」「（原油は）犯罪がらみだと思われる。この原油は海洋投棄されたものである可能性がある」と述べた。
　サレス環境相は、政府の優先事項は漂着した原油の迅速な除去と発生源の特定だと述べた。サレス氏は７日、漂着現場を訪問し、これまでに北東部の海岸から１００トンを超える原油が除去されたと語っていた。
　国営石油会社ペトロブラスも除去作業に参加。分析の結果、漂着した原油は同社が生産したものでも販売したものでもないことが分かったと発表した。
　有力紙フォリャ・ジ・サンパウロは機密報告書を引用し、ペトロブラスによる分析の結果、原油が隣国ベネズエラ産である可能性が浮上したと報じた。しかしボルソナロ大統領はベネズエラを名指しで批判してはいない。
　今回の原油流出についてウミガメ保護団体タマルは、同団体が創設された１９８０年以降で「最悪の環境上の惨事」だとしている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/10/10-08:40）

The source of large blots of oil staining more than 130 beaches in northeastern Brazil remained a mystery Tuesday despite President Jair Bolsonaro's assertions they came from outside the country and were possibly the work of criminals.
Tamar, a group dedicated to the protection of sea turtles, said the oil spills were the worst environmental tragedy it has encountered since its formation in 1980.
The patches of oil began appearing in early September and have now turned up along a 2,000 kilometer (1,200 mile) stretch of Atlantic coastline.
We are not in the presence of a constant leak. If it is the result of a shipwrecked oil tanker, the leaks will continue for the moment, Bolsonaro told a news conference in Brasilia.
It appears to be criminal. This oil could have been dumped at sea.
Environment Minister Ricardo Salles, appearing alongside Bolsonaro, said the government's priority is to act quickly to remove what is on land and to deepen the investigation to find the origin.
On Monday, Salles said after visiting the affected areas that more than 100 tonnes of oil has been removed from the beaches in the northeast.
State oil company Petrobras, which is taking part in the cleanup, said its analysis determined that the oil was neither produced nor marketed by the company.
The patches of oil have been detected in all nine states of northeastern Brazil, a poor region known for the beauty of its beaches and whose economy depends on tourism.
The coastal ecosystem of northeastern Brazil is very fragile, with mangroves, rocky coves and coral reefs, Maria Christina Araujo, an oceanographer at Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, told AFP.
In the mangrove, an environment with exceptional biodiversity, it is virtually impossible to remove oil. The damage could be irreparable and the ecosystems will take years to recover.
She also warned that the spills could harm the region's economy.
We can already see that tourists no longer want to go to the beaches, Araujo said.
- Ecosystems at risk -
On Saturday, Bolsonaro ordered a swift investigation to establish the causes and determine the responsibilities for the spilled oil. The federal police announced last week that they were investigating the spills as an environmental crime.
On Monday evening, Bolsonaro said Brazilian authorities had identified a country that the oil could have come from, but he did not name it.
Citing a confidential report, the daily Folha de Sao Paulo revealed that analysis by Petrobras showed the oil could have come from Venezuela.
But Bolsonaro refrained from singling out Brazil's South American neighbor.
Bolsonaro has been a vocal critic of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and relations between the two countries are strained.
Bolsonaro has also lashed out at international critics who blamed him for massive forest fires in the Amazon basin in August and a broader failure to protect the world's largest tropical forest.
Regardless of the source of the oil pollution, the government did not respond to the situation until last week.
The government took too much time in reacting, said biologist Mario Moscatelli, who said coastal ecosystems -- the beaches, mangroves and coral reefs -- are particularly vulnerable to oil spills.
It's fundamental that those responsible be identified and that they pay for the damage, environmental as well as economic, he said.
Without a firm reaction, this kind of episode could happen again, he said.