Peruvian Amazon: 119 oil-polluted sites await cleanup a decade later

Ten years after being identified, 119 sites contaminated by oil activity in the Pastaza, Corrientes, Tigre, and Marañón river basins in the Peruvian Amazon remain unremediated. Despite the state establishing a special fund over a decade ago to finance recovery efforts, progress has been minimal. Indigenous leaders from Loreto traveled to Lima this week to press Congress to approve Bill N.° 13084/2025-PE, which aims to streamline these rehabilitation processes.

The proposed legislation seeks to modify the functioning of the Environmental Remediation Contingency Fund. This fund, created in 2015 with an initial S/50 million, was intended to address the environmental impacts of oil extraction. However, according to organizations within PUINAMUDT, only 27 out of 146 identified impacted sites have seen any progress, leaving the remaining 119 sites awaiting studies and cleanup operations.

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We have been working for ten years. Of the 146 identified sites, only 27 have been prioritized, and the other 119 have not moved a single step.

Indigenous representatives explain that the bottleneck is not a lack of funds but regulatory restrictions. The available resources became tied to a fixed list of sites approved in 2019 via ministerial resolution. This has prevented the inclusion of newly identified contaminated areas, particularly in the Lote 8 oil extraction zone, thus blocking access to financing. Robinson Sandi Hualinga, president of OPIKAFPE, one of the federations within PUINAMUDT, stated, "We have been working for ten years. Of the 146 identified sites, only 27 have been prioritized, and the other 119 have not moved a single step."

The legislative initiative would empower the Ministry of Energy and Mines to annually update the list of prioritized sites. This change would enable the use of existing funds for studies, rehabilitation plans, and environmental cleanup execution. "Often there is money, but we cannot move forward. If this modification is approved, we can initiate the corresponding studies and follow the necessary steps for remediation," explained Hualinga. Communities reliant on the affected rivers for fishing and sustenance report significant impacts on their health and the environment, affecting their food security.

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Often there is money, but we cannot move forward. If this modification is approved, we can initiate the corresponding studies and follow the necessary steps for remediation.