Old pipes cause oil spill in Cárdenas: Risk for bathing area

A crude oil spill in the city of Cárdenas, Matanzas, was contained this Wednesday by workers from the state-owned company Petrolera del Centro, after a leak was detected in an abandoned pipeline near the Playa Larga bridge.

The official newspaper Girón reported on Facebook that the spill, although described as “very small” by local authorities, reached a creek that flows directly into a bathing area frequented by residents.

Officials warned that efforts will continue to prevent oil from contaminating that stretch of the coastline.

According to the mayor of Cárdenas, Frank Padrón, the priority is to prevent the crude oil—dense and highly polluting—from reaching the sea, in an area already affected by other incidents of environmental contamination.

The pipes involved, exposed to the corrosion from the hydrocarbon, have been out of use for nearly 20 years, but they still contain remnants of oil inside, according to official sources.

Although structural deterioration appears to be the cause of the incident, authorities do not rule out the possibility of human action.

Cárdenas, one of the cities most affected by industrial abandonment and the environmental liabilities of aging infrastructure, adds another chapter to its long history of pollution in coastal areas with this new discharge.

On May 22, 2025, a fuel spill was reported at the facilities of the old José Martí thermoelectric plant, located in the municipality of Cárdenas, Matanzas.

The situation raised alarm among local residents due to the scale of the spill and its proximity to inhabited areas.

Just a few hours later, the fire hazard associated with the spilled fuel was reported, which heightened the tension in the area as specialized teams attempted to manage the emergency.

The combination of flammable materials and the lack of maintenance in the infrastructure posed a significant risk.

During the course of the following day, the teams managed to partially control the spill and efforts were deployed to mitigate the effects of the fuel that had already reached some areas exposed to the environment.

Two days later, the authorities reported that they had extracted approximately half of the fuel still stored in the plant's old tanks, in an effort to prevent the situation from repeating or escalating into a greater disaster.

Frequently asked questions about the oil spill in Cárdenas, Cuba