A 55,000-gallon oil spill from a refinery tank failure in Panama has caused extensive damage to a large coral-reef biological reserve, the Smithsonian Institution has reported.
The institution said Wednesday that oil had settled on exposed coral and contaminated major portions of the reef, destroying thousands of marine organisms and wiping out dozens of research projects at the Smithsonian's Galeta Island Marine Laboratory, on the eastern shore of Panama.
The spill occurred April 27 when a tank ruptured at Refineria Panama S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of Texaco Inc.