Return to Transcripts main page
Live From...
Oil in the Water
Aired November 20, 2002 - 13:12 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: There was a sense of urgency today as cleanup workers tried to head off oil slicks before they reached Spanish beaches and the fishing grounds. At least 125 miles of coast line are already foul. The oil is from the Greek-owned tanker Prestige. It broke apart and sank yesterday off the northwest coast of Spain.
Al Goodman reports from the coast near the city of La Caruna (ph) -- did I say that right, Al?
AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Your Spanish is getting better every day, Martin.
Now the worst-case scenario has not happened yet. But frankly, as you say, everyone here is on high alert, because they do expect a nightmare scenario. Now here's the good news. Since the Prestige broke in two and sank about 100 miles from the fishing village of Caion, where we are this day, going to the bottom, officials say that no new spills have occurred since that sinking. That means that maybe 80 percent of the ship's cargo of fuel oil is still with it, perhaps on the floor of the ocean.
The other piece of good news is that when the ship sank, spilling about 10 percent of its oil, 100 miles off the coast, that oil slick is now running parallel to the coast and heading northerly, not coming in right now. Officials say that this situation could change with the shifting of the wind.
Now, there already has been extensive damage. The environment minister said 90 beaches have been soiled and more than 100 miles of coastline has been soiled by the spill from the same ship when it was closer to shore last week. That's when the problems started last Wednesday. The cleanup, as you say, has been going on from that initial spill. And members of the military have been involved in that, people have come down from the hills. Everybody pitching in. Lots of people have been showing up to take a close look at this, including an environmental official, who had this to say about the situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're looking for accountability. We're looking for transparency. There's all sorts of rumors over the last few days as to who is responsible, where the finger's being pointed. We need more transparency. It's very difficult to say.
And not the least, we're looking for more protected areas, so that toxic cargoes like this, like oil and other cargoes, are kept away from such important areas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOODMAN: But at the end of the day, Martin, here are the facts on the ground at this village of Caion, and it's similar to villages all up and down the coast. Their beautiful beach here now smells like a gasoline station. Their fishing fleet is docked, all the members of their fishing fleet, 60 in this town, can't go to work. They're taking a government dole that's been approved by an emergency measure, a fraction of their pay, and things are looking grim, indeed, and that's all from the initial part of the spill. Even if this other second wave never gets here -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Al, the environmentalist raises a good point. Who is ultimately responsible? Is it the owners? Is it the flag carrier? Is it the people who own the fuel being shipped? Who?
GOODMAN: Well, that's what the Spanish government would like to find out, and it's a very murky issue, almost as murky and nontransparent as the oil itself. And past cases don't offer a lot of guidance. Now, officials have told us the owner of the ship would be theoretically responsible for some of this. Now we're told that the oil companies have a so-called international compensation fund that would pick up other parts of it.
But in the Exxon Valdez case, where there were about $5 billion U.S. dollars in claims, they're still haggling years after the fact. In the last oil spill here, 10 years ago, a major one, they're still trying to figure out some of the compensation claims.
So it's a very long, slow process. The people on the ground get hurt very badly -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Yes, they do. And one thing's for certain, it's going to be very expensive for someone.
Al Goodman, thank you live from Spain.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 20, 2002 - 13:12 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: There was a sense of urgency today as cleanup workers tried to head off oil slicks before they reached Spanish beaches and the fishing grounds. At least 125 miles of coast line are already foul. The oil is from the Greek-owned tanker Prestige. It broke apart and sank yesterday off the northwest coast of Spain.
Al Goodman reports from the coast near the city of La Caruna (ph) -- did I say that right, Al?
AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Your Spanish is getting better every day, Martin.
Now the worst-case scenario has not happened yet. But frankly, as you say, everyone here is on high alert, because they do expect a nightmare scenario. Now here's the good news. Since the Prestige broke in two and sank about 100 miles from the fishing village of Caion, where we are this day, going to the bottom, officials say that no new spills have occurred since that sinking. That means that maybe 80 percent of the ship's cargo of fuel oil is still with it, perhaps on the floor of the ocean.
The other piece of good news is that when the ship sank, spilling about 10 percent of its oil, 100 miles off the coast, that oil slick is now running parallel to the coast and heading northerly, not coming in right now. Officials say that this situation could change with the shifting of the wind.
Now, there already has been extensive damage. The environment minister said 90 beaches have been soiled and more than 100 miles of coastline has been soiled by the spill from the same ship when it was closer to shore last week. That's when the problems started last Wednesday. The cleanup, as you say, has been going on from that initial spill. And members of the military have been involved in that, people have come down from the hills. Everybody pitching in. Lots of people have been showing up to take a close look at this, including an environmental official, who had this to say about the situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're looking for accountability. We're looking for transparency. There's all sorts of rumors over the last few days as to who is responsible, where the finger's being pointed. We need more transparency. It's very difficult to say.
And not the least, we're looking for more protected areas, so that toxic cargoes like this, like oil and other cargoes, are kept away from such important areas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOODMAN: But at the end of the day, Martin, here are the facts on the ground at this village of Caion, and it's similar to villages all up and down the coast. Their beautiful beach here now smells like a gasoline station. Their fishing fleet is docked, all the members of their fishing fleet, 60 in this town, can't go to work. They're taking a government dole that's been approved by an emergency measure, a fraction of their pay, and things are looking grim, indeed, and that's all from the initial part of the spill. Even if this other second wave never gets here -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Al, the environmentalist raises a good point. Who is ultimately responsible? Is it the owners? Is it the flag carrier? Is it the people who own the fuel being shipped? Who?
GOODMAN: Well, that's what the Spanish government would like to find out, and it's a very murky issue, almost as murky and nontransparent as the oil itself. And past cases don't offer a lot of guidance. Now, officials have told us the owner of the ship would be theoretically responsible for some of this. Now we're told that the oil companies have a so-called international compensation fund that would pick up other parts of it.
But in the Exxon Valdez case, where there were about $5 billion U.S. dollars in claims, they're still haggling years after the fact. In the last oil spill here, 10 years ago, a major one, they're still trying to figure out some of the compensation claims.
So it's a very long, slow process. The people on the ground get hurt very badly -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Yes, they do. And one thing's for certain, it's going to be very expensive for someone.
Al Goodman, thank you live from Spain.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
