TT needs contaminated-land registry, says expert

TT needs a Contaminated Land and Hazardous Waste registry to ensure repurposed land does not pose health risks, one environmental consultant has said.

“We don’t have an inventory so we don’t know what land is polluted. If you do not know the historical background of land you can be exposing yourself, your family and even your workers (to health risks),” Kelli Danglad of Green Engineering told a Joint Select Committee of Parliament on Finance and Legal Affairs on Friday.

The committee was discussing waste management systems by the Tobago House of Assembly.

Danglad recalled two instances where land that had been previously been used to store and process hazardous material was repurposed without being remediated (returned to a condition similar to the original).

A site in San Fernando, for example, that used to be a gas station was about to be repurposed for an extension of the general hospital, but developers were unaware of an underground containment unit with oil, that ended up being ruptured during construction. And another site, she did not say where, was once the location of a timber processing plant that preserved wooden telephone poles with creosote, derived from coal-tar. When the plant was closed, the operators allowed the creosote to drain into the soil. That land, she said, is now being used for farming.

Lead pollution is a major concern, especially the unregulated and unofficial smelters—often run out of homes, as well as the lucrative trade in scavenging old car batteries. Danglad recalled two sites in Arima, one where, in the 1970s, a lead smelter operated and freely dumped its waste into the soil and waterways, including the Arima River; and more recently, a home-based smelter, where a man processed lead from batteries in his backyard. His children, who lived and played at home, showed signs of mental retardation—a symptom of lead poisoning. When the Environmental Management Authority stepped in to clean it up, and Green Engineering as the subcontractor remediated the land, Danglad said the man promptly restarted his business after they left.

Asked by committee chair Sophia Chote if there was some kind of injunction that could be passed to prevent this, Danglad said she was not sure if the EMA had considered that option. “But as you said, chair, unless there is some type of legal injunction or follow-up monitoring, they’ll just go back,” she said.

Even established companies seek to cut corners. Danglad’s colleague, David Jacob, noted that because there is no local legislation, many companies ignore proper handling of hazardous waste.

The ones who adhere to international standards are the ones who are affiliated with international brands. Jacob noted that the cost to clear hazardous material could be as high as $5,000 per cubic foot, while non-hazardous material removal costs ten times less. To save money, companies would choose truckers instead of specialists, and often, they don’t care what happens to the toxic material, they just want to get rid of it.