China News Service, August 24. According to Peru's "Gazette" report, Peru's consumer protection agency Indecopi filed a lawsuit against Spain's Repsol oil company (Repsol) for US$4.5 billion in compensation for the crude oil spill that occurred in January.
The Peruvian court has accepted the lawsuit.
Indecopi said the government had to close dozens of beaches following the oil spill, "which has had a severe impact on the economic activity of businessmen, associations and businesses".
The environmental assessment agency recently said that seven months after the oil spill, about 25 beaches are still contaminated.
Lima's 27th Civil Court said Repsol and other defendants - Spanish insurer Mapfre Global Risks, Italian shipping company Fratelli D'Amico Armatori and a company of Chilean group Ultramar have 30 days to respond.
The Peruvian government has yet to announce when commercial fishing in the Pacific can resume.
Repsol reportedly blamed shipping companies for the oil spill, while Italian shipping company Fratelli D'Amico Armatori pleaded not to publish "incorrect or misleading" information after prosecutors' investigations began.
It was previously reported that on January 15, a crude oil spill occurred on a tanker while unloading oil at Repsol’s refinery in Callao, Peru.
Unusual waves off the coast of Peru following a volcanic eruption in the South Pacific nation of Tonga were responsible for the accident, Repsol said.
Peruvian President Castillo called the oil spill the biggest ecological disaster affecting the country in recent years.