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Yvonne Webb

Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) is calling for an independent verification of the quantity of oil spilt from Petrotrin’s Soldado Field on Friday and for the whistle-blower protection legislation to come into effect.

Corporate secretary Gary Aboud, said he could not trust the figures being quoted by Petrotrin and the Ministry of Energy based on their track record over the years with oil spills. He lamented the lack of accountability by public administrators to report on environmental impact, or how much oil was spilled

Aboud said FFOS was locked out and fewer NGOs were even interested in matters of public health or environmental justice.

“The FFOS is concerned there is no legislated independent overview and/or primary stakeholder inclusion in determining, investigating, probing, verifying, validating, reviewing, visiting, and/or inputting in any way into disaster response, assessment and reporting.”

He called on the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU), which represents the workforce, and the Energy Chamber to make their voices heard for the public’s interest. Aboud was responding to the latest oil spill report on Friday. The Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries (MEEI) estimated that about ten barrels of oil spilled on a 6” diameter pipeline from Platform 9 to Riser Platform 2, Main Soldado Field, Petrotrin Operations.

Based on their assessment, the ministry said the spill was estimated to be 95 per cent sheen and five per cent brown patches, that it was isolated and Cansorb was used to clean up the spill.

Aboud chastised both the company and the ministry for the non-disclosure of the tiered-level response, the nature of the spilled oil, the cause, as well as the potential risks to fisheries, marine ecosystems and human health.

He said based on the company’s track record, the public could not be assured about the ten-barrel quantity, recalling several spills over the past years.

“The public needs to be reminded of the inconsistent volumes of spilled oil reported by Petrotrin and the MEEI on the April 23, 2017 Tank 70 rupture at Petrotrin’s Tank Farm, Point-a-Pierre, when it initially confirmed 30 barrels and a few days later in the Parliament, Minister of Energy Franklin Khan put the figure at 300 barrels.” FFOS recalled that Tank 70 was among 11 high-risks tank earmarked to be condemned as outlined in a 2003 Risk Assessment Report for Petrotrin’s Pointe a Pierre Tank farm. Yet, in 2017, it was still in use.

“At present, the existing legislation governing oil spill response ought to have inclusive and independent analysis and investigation as to the cause, source, volume, potential risks to the environment, human health and fisheries.”