In Venezuela, harmful oil spills are mounting as the country ramps up production
After the U.S. lifted its sanctions, Venezuela is trying to revive its beleaguered oil industry. But ramping up production is causing more oil spills.
LAKE MARACAIBO, Venezuela — On the western shore of Lake Maracaibo, workers use rakes and shovels to pull blobs of congealed oil out of the water, but the black goo sticks to everything — fishing nets, boats, outboard motors and even a calf that's wondering around the beach.
The oil slicks, which cover vast stretches of the lakeshore, are the result of constant leaks from underwater oil wells and a spaghetti of aging pipelines that run along the lake bottom. The mess has driven away beachgoers and decimated the fishing industry on Lake Maracaibo, an immense, brackish tidal bay connected to the Caribbean Sea.
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