Relief from noise promised to La Brea residents

LABOUR Minister and La Brea MP Stephen Mc Clashie has promised relief to constituents who have been affected by excessive noise and vibration problems from the US$1 billion Caribbean Gas Chemicals Ltd (CGCL). Mc Clashie said CGCL has asked for additional time to correct the problems residents of La Brea have complained about.

Mc Clashie said the company asked for a week and a half, which ended on Friday, with a guarantee that noise levels will significantly decrease.

He said he will be meeting again with the company, residents and the Environmental Management Authority (EMA). CGCL confirmed it began receiving complaints from residents of the Square Deal, Vessigny and Sobo communities, (people residing outside the buffer zone of the Union Industrial Estate), regarding excessive noise and vibrations, shortly after it commenced commissioning of its facility on August 17.

CGCL’s Gas to Petrochemical Complex is TT’s eighth Methanol Plant and its first Dimethyl Ether (DME) facility being constructed at La Brea.

Mc Clashie told Newsday on Thursday that he had two official meetings with residents of Sobo Village, Vessigny and Square Deal, as well as with the CEO of CGCL and representatives of the EMA.

“With regard to the complaints and based on my own knowledge of engineering, the commissioning of the plant would generally be very different to the actual running of the plant because they (CGCL) were testing their system and as a result, would have been blowing gas out of the plants at night which would have created some discomfort and noise.

“The extended period requested, he said, ends on Friday and “they (CGCL) guarantee the noise level would have decreased significantly because the plant would be going into full production and the situation which existed prior, would go away.”

The EMA was asked to do an independent evaluation to determine if the noise level coming from the plant was above what was prescribed in the Noise Pollution Control Rules (NPCR) and the Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) it would have granted to CGCL.

Mc Clashie said the EMA would be asked to do a second assessment to ensure that the threshold of tolerance is within the specified legal limits of what residents should be exposed to.

Mc Clashie said the meeting he has planned with his constituents would determine if the situation is still prevailing and if it is then a determination on where to go will be looked at.