英語の楽しみ、へ戻る -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- High Winds Break Up Spain Oil Slick By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 12:38 p.m. ET CAION, Spain (AP) -- Winds exceeding 60 mph Wednesday broke up a 22-mile-long oil slick threatening rich fishing waters and pristine beaches along the Spanish coast, and authorities said the stricken tanker had released no more fuel after sinking to the bottom of the Atlantic. The winds and heavy seas, with waves of 26 feet, pushed a second, smaller slick northward along the Portuguese shore as workers from both countries fought to protect the environment from the additional 800,000 gallons of fuel oil released into the ocean as the ship split in two and sank Tuesday 150 miles off northern Spain. The Bahamas-flagged Prestige ruptured in stormy weather Nov. 13, initially spilling about 800,000 gallons that contaminated fisheries, blackened beaches and killed wildlife along nearly 200 miles of the Iberian peninsula. The vessel broke apart and sank after a three-day salvage operation that involved towing it away from the Spanish coast. The preliminary cost for cleanup and lost economic activity was estimated at $42 million and could take six months, said Spain's Environment Minister Jaume Matas. The government curtailed fishing in the area. On Wednesday, cleanup crews were scooping sludge from dozens of Spanish beaches in hope that the tanker's remaining cargo -- nearly twice the 10.92 million gallons dumped from the Exxon Valdez near Alaska in 1989 -- would solidify and stay inside the submerged vessel in frigid waters more than two miles deep, limiting short-term environmental damage. ``We hope that the sunken part does not spill its fuel. But still it's a time bomb at the bottom of the sea,'' said Maria Jose Caballero, who heads Greenpeace's coastal protection project in Spain. ``There's nothing that makes us believe it won't finally burst and leak all its oil.'' There was no indication Wednesday that the sunken wreckage was leaking, Arsenio Fernandez de Mesa, chief government representative in the Galicia region, told The Associated Press. ``There have been no new oil spills since the boat went down,'' he said. Authorities hoped the strong winds and heavy seas would disperse the second, 6-mile-long slick moving north about 160 miles off the Portuguese coast. ``What we do know is that the evolution of the slick is northward, and that's a good thing as it stays clear of the coast,'' Fernandez de Mesa said. Maritime authorities and environmentalists in Spain placed floating barriers outside rivers to protect coastal fishing grounds and shellfish beds. European neighbors were expected to send boats equipped to scoop up oil at sea. Fishermen in the area around Arosa inlet, one of the deepest in the region, reportedly set up a barrier including some 1,000 boats to try to prevent any slick from entering the fjord. Portugal's environment minister, Isaltino Morais, said containment efforts would focus on the coast because high winds and waves will probably make it impossible to scoop up much oil at sea. ``The battle will be on land,'' Morais told state radio Antena 1, adding that the Portuguese military was monitoring one of the slicks. Matas, the Spanish environment minister, said, ``We have to wait and be prudent because we still don't know whether we have passed the threshold of this crisis.'' Spain's Development Ministry said it had notified the ship's insurer, London Steamship, that a case was being filed against the company, the ship, its owner and its captain. The government demanded a deposit of $60 million from the company as a guarantee against possible future fines or compensation claims. The ministry said the government had also presented its case to the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund in London. The tanker's Greek captain, Apostolus Maguras, was jailed in Spain on charges of disobeying authorities and harming the environment. Bail was set at $3 million. European countries called for tighter controls on shipping of hazardous cargo after the accident. French President Jacques Chirac referred to the Prestige as a ``garbage ship'' whose flag of convenience, the Bahamas, and registry, Liberia, seemed aimed at evading European Union safety norms. The ship's management company, Universe Maritime Ltd., is Greek. Continued 1 | 2 | Next>> High Winds Break Up Spain Oil Slick (Page 2 of 2) Chirac wants leaders of the 15 European Union countries to consider maritime security at their Dec. 12-13 summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, Ecology Minister Roselyne Bachelot said Wednesday in the French Parliament. In its final moments Tuesday, the front and rear tips of the Prestige upended ominously. The bow was the last to sink, shortly after 4 p.m. The crew had been evacuated earlier. The Prestige was loaded with 20.5 million gallons of fuel oil for its voyage from the Baltic Sea to Singapore. Portugal and Spain barred the ship from their ports. A Universe Maritime official had complained that the crippled vessel was exposed to further damage in storms far from shore. The ship had no history of major safety problems and had been inspected as recently as last month in St. Petersburg, Russia, according to the American Bureau of Shipping, a Houston-based firm that validates a ship's structural and mechanical fitness. ``At the time of this incident, the Prestige was fully in compliance with all of our requirements, '' said Stewart Wade, an ABS vice president. ``We have gone back and reviewed our records of all of the repairs that took place there, '' Wade said. ``Our records show that everything was done in conformance with our requirements. There was some steel renewal of the Prestige in China. It's very common, particularly in older vessels.'' The Prestige, which was scheduled to be decommissioned in March 2005, had also been inspected seven times since 1998 by local governments while it was docked at various ports around the world. During these port inspections, four minor deficiencies were noticed but the ship was not detained at any time by any government, Wade said. European Union Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio sent a letter to the 15 EU capitals on Tuesday urging that new, stiffer inspection rules measures be written into national law and implemented as quickly as possible. Under the new rules, authorities are required to check at least 25 percent of all ships coming into port, starting with older, single-hull vessels. Ships registered in countries with lax safety, labor or tax rules are to be given priority. <