Santa Flora resident treated in hospital after oil spill

On Wednesday morning, a Santa Flora resident was taken to the Siparia Health Centre for treatment after she inhaled fumes from a ruptured Heritage Petroleum Ltd (Heritage) oil pipeline on the corner of Wells Road and Agapito Trace.

When Newsday visited the area on Wednesday afternoon, Heritage workers were cleaning up the spill and repairing the ruptured pipeline.

Randy Ramjit lives nearby and told Newsday he realised there was an oil spill when he started smelling fumes on Tuesday morning.

He recalled, “Yesterday (Tuesday) around 10.30am, I came out to the back of my house and I started getting a strong scent of what I assumed to be some sort of hydrocarbon.

“About half an hour later, I came back outside, when the rain started to fall very heavy, and when I look, my entire (yard) was floodwater and everything was black on top, which is when I realised it was an oil spill, because I live close to the line.”

Ramjit said he quickly called Heritage and a disaster response team was sent to assess the situation a few minutes later.

However, the team didn’t immediately fix the ruptured pipeline.

Claiming his family was left to inhale the fumes until Heritage’s repair team arrived on Wednesday, Ramjit said his wife started to feel unwell around 3.30am on Wednesday.

While Ramjit’s wife didn’t want to be identified or speak to Newsday, he relayed her ordeal.

“About 3 o'clock this morning (Wednesday) my wife wake up and started complaining about a headache, chest pains and she was in severe discomfort.

“I had to rush her to the Siparia Health Facility, where she received medical treatment.”

Ramjit said his wife was given medication and discharged around 7am on Wednesday.

To prevent his children getting sick, Ramjit said he had to take them for regular drives out of the area to get fresh air.

“The children have been complaining about their chests and they have been getting constant headaches.”

Heritage officials contacted Ramjit, but he said there were no discussions about the next steps and whether the family was entitled to compensation.

Contacted for comment, Heritage’s corporate communications manager said the company was working on a news release on the incident.