Documentation of 1986 oil spill damage from a Bahia Las Minas Oil Refinery, STRI, Panama
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Download IIIF ManifestRequest permissionsDownload image PrintID: SIA Acc. 11-009 [86-5769]
Creator: Hansen, Carl C
Form/Genre: Color transparencies
Date: 1986
Citation: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Acc. 11-009, Image No. 86-5769
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
On April 27 the rupture of a tank in Panama's oil refinery at Bahia Las Minas, about 5 km east of Galeta Reef, produced an oil spill. Personnel at the refinery announced that the oil spill was contained within Cativa Bay, and the oil was being pumped back into the refinery. On May 4 a change in weather pushed the oil out of the bay and along the coast. Since May 9, crude oil had been washing over the Galeta reef. Scientists at the laboratory found their long-term studies under a layer of thick, black crude oil, that extended from Maria Chiquita to Limon. The Galeta reef has been intensively studied by Smithsonian scientists since 1969.
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Acc. 11-009, Image No. 86-5769
Smithsonian Institution Archives Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507; 600 Maryland Avenue, SW; Washington, DC 20024-2520
1986
Panama
Color transparencies
SIA Acc. 11-009 [86-5769]
Color slides; 35mm;