SAINT-MARTIN-DE-CRAU, France (Reuters) - Four thousand cubic meters (140,000 cu ft) of crude oil has spewed into a nature reserve on the edge of France's Camargue national park after an underground pipe burst, officials said on Friday.
"This is a real ecological disaster," junior environmental minister Chantal Jouanno told reporters after visiting the area in the far south of France.
The spill spread over 2 hectares (5 acres) of the Coussouls de Crau reserve near the town of Saint-Martin-de-Crau, which was created in 2001 and is home to thousands of birds.
The site lies at the entrance to the Camargue park, a vast expanse of plains and marshland, famous for its wild horses and bulls, that boards the Mediterranean Sea.
The fractured pipeline was operated by the Societe du Pipeline Sud-Europeen (SPSE), which supplies refineries and a petrochemical plant in France, Switzerland and Germany.
Jouanno said the SPSE was responsible for the spillage.
"We will have to draw the consequences for all the pipelines in France," she added.
Built in 1971, the broken pipe was a meter wide and buried some 80 cm (31.5 inches) under the ground.
A clean-up operation was already underway and officials said all the crude would be removed alone with the tainted earth.
A spokeswoman for SPSE said there would be no halt in supplies because the company had alternative pipeline networks.
The leak occurred at about 8.30 a.m. (0630 GMT) and as soon as it was detected a 20-km stretch of pipeline was shut off.
On its website, SPSE lists shareholders including France's Total, U.S. firm ExxonMobil and Britain's BP.
(Reporting by Jean-Francois Rosnoblet, Mathilde Cru and Estelle Shirbon)
(Writing by Crispian Balmer; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Pipeline leak causes oil spill in southern France
Yahoo News 7 Aug 09;
MARSEILLE, France (AFP) – French emergency units were dispatched Friday to contain an oil spill from a pipeline in farm fields west of the southeastern city of Marseille, officials said.
This handout photo released by the French fire brigade services (SDIS 13) shows vehicles stationed near an oil spill in farm fields west of the southeastern city of Marseille. French emergency units were dispatched Friday to contain the oil spill, officials said. (AFP/SAPEURS POMPIERS 13)Some 3,000 cubic metres of oil spilled over two hectares (five acres) of agricultural land near Saint-Martin-de-Crau but officials said the area was far from residential areas and water sources.
Environment Minister Chantal Jouanno travelled to the site to see the damage and an investigation was opened to determine the causes of the leak.
The pipeline is managed by the South European Pipeline (SPSE) operator, which supplies crude to plants from Fos in southern France to Karlsruhe in Germany.
"It is too early to determine the cause" of the leak, said a spokeswoman for SPSE, adding that there had been regular maintenance on the pipeline.
The Bouches-du-Rhone local authorities said there was no reason to fear an impact on water supplies as the spill took place at least five kilometres (three miles) away from the nearest source.
SPSE said the leak was detected shortly before 8:00 am (0600 GMT) and measures were taken to shut down the pipeline. An emergency security plan was put into action.
The spokeswoman said the incident would not affect supplies to clients.
Cleanup operations were underway, using three pumps and officials said tests would follow to measure the extent of the pollution.
"There are no risks from this type of incident," notably of an explosion, said the SPSE spokeswoman.
The pipeline of 769 kilometres (477 miles) has a capacity of 23 million metric tons per year.
Oil spill tarnishes French nature reserve
Yahoo News 8 Aug 09;
MARSEILLE, France (AFP) – Experts on Sunday will begin taking stock of the impact of an oil spill from a pipeline that runs through a nature reserve in the south of France, officials said Saturday.
Some 4,000 cubic metres of crude oil spilled from the pipeline that runs from Fos-sur-Mer, northwest of the French Mediterranean port of Marseille, to Karlsruhe, Germany via the Coussoulis de Crau reserve.
Efforts to clean up the oil were completed on Saturday, but the Societe du Pipeline Sud-Europeen said a survey will be carried out Sunday ahead of the excavation of two hectares (five acres) of polluted land.
Local drinking-water supplies are not at risk, but several protected species on the reserve have been affected -- prompting the Bouches-du-Rhone department to say that a "precise evaluation" of the impact on wildlife will be needed.