Tanker Leaking Tons of Acid Off Mexican Coast
A half-sunken Norwegian tanker has leaked about 100 tons of sulfuric acid into the waters off the Mexican state of Michoacan, an official said Friday.
“From the start there was a small leak, and it’s lost about 100 tons of acid,” said the official, who asked not to be identified.
The Norwegian-flagged Betula became incapacitated a week ago while it was unloading its highly corrosive cargo at the port of Lazaro Cardenas, a few miles up the Pacific coast from the beach resorts of Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo.
A tug pulled the vessel to an abandoned beach, which has been sealed off by Mexican authorities.
The ship still holds about 4,000 tons of sulfuric acid. Plumes of white gas are rising from the vessel, signaling a leak of acid, which threatens plant and animal life, the environmental group Greenpeace said.
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