Expanding the military operations support infrastructure on the island of San Cristobal in the Galapagos archipelago unnecessarily increases the risk of oil spills.

En Español: http://chng.it/CrTtWrhpDD

In January of 2001 the tanker Jessica ran aground, spilling nearly 200.000 gallons of petrochemicals into the waters of the same bay where the port expansion is now being proposed. Since then, two more massive cargo ships have run aground (Galapaface I, 2014 and Floreana, 2015) in the same bay with catastrophic outcomes to the vessels.

The long lasting social and environmental consequences of these disasters will continue being the subject of scientific scrutiny for years to come.

The fragile island ecosystems of the Galapagos need the continued commitment of the Ecuadorian government to reduce the dependence of human activities related oil consumption as stated in the 2015-2020 Galapagos Management Plan.