An error at the port on San Cristóbal Island has resulted in a 600-gallon spill, leaving areas of the Galápagos Islands covered in diesel fuel.

A state of emergency has been declared and protocols activated to contain the spill. According to Ecuador officials, the situation is “under control” and “a series of actions have been deployed to mitigate the possible effects,” the AFP reports.

The accident, which injured one person and threatens the island chain’s wildlife, occurred in a port on San Cristóbal Island, the easternmost island in the chain, when a crane collapsed while loading a container holding an electric generator onto a barge.

The falling container destabilized the ship, which was carrying 600 gallons of diesel fuel, causing it to sink.

The generator and the loading crane were also submerged.

A collapsed crane caused the barge to sink for the second time.

The barge involved in this incident has sunk before. In February of 2018, the ship sank due to a weight imbalance. According to the AFP, a weight imbalance had caused the ship to sink once before in February 2018, in Ecuador.

“It’s horrific that a toxic oil spill was allowed to happen in one of the planet’s great ecological treasures,” Kristen Monsell, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, told Newsweek. “Oil lingers in coastal ecosystems for years, killing wildlife and disrupting food chains, and it’s impossible to clean it all up.”

The Emergency Operations Committee (COE) is working to protect the surrounding areas. Members of the official nature reserve authority and Ecuadorian Navy are working with the Galápagos National Park (GNP) to limit the damage to the natural environment.

The Galapagos Giant Tortoise is a well-known inhabitant of the Islands.

Another spill occurred in 2001, one that Ecuador’s environmental ministry told the Guardian was “one of Galápagos’ worst disasters.” Around 243,000 gallons of diesel fuel leaked into the water after a tanker ran aground on San Cristóbal Island.

Iguanas populations decreased significantly after an oil spill in 2001 at San Cristóbal.

While small in comparison to major oil spills, the effect on this biologically condensed and fragile environment was devastating. In a study reported on by New Scientist in 2002, 62 percent of iguanas living on Santa Fe Island had died the year following the spill. The average previously was 2 to 7 percent.

The Galápagos Islands, located 620 miles east of mainland Ecuador, are known for their diversity of plant and animal species, many of which are endemic to the volcanic archipelago.