Ministry hosts four-day oil pollution workshop

GIVEN Trinidad and Tobago’s status as an energy-producing nation whose greatest revenue comes from oil and gas, the Ministry of Works and Transport is hosting a workshop on oil pollution preparedness, response and co-operation.

The four-day workshop, which began on January 16 at the ministry on London Street, Port of Spain, is intended to assist with reviewing contingency planning, with specific focus on the existing national oil-spill contingency plan and to identify areas for improvement within the existing framework.

Stakeholders from the Coast Guard, Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management, Ministry of Works and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) attended the opening day.

The International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness Response and Co-operation (OPRC) provides a global framework for international co-operation in combating major incidents or threats of marine pollution.

Minister in the Ministry of Works Richie Sookhai said the workshop will assist in building capacity to effectively implement the OPRC convention and improve co-operation among government agencies and other stakeholders involved in oil-spill preparedness and response.

Sookhai said it was also important to provide first responders, supervisors, on-scene commanders responsible for undertaking on-site operations with a complete overview of the techniques available for recovering oil and cleaning polluted shorelines to enhance overall effectiveness of response strategies.

He said as a small island developing state, Trinidad and Tobago is already threatened by the effects of climate change and should not add pollution to the list.

“We must take measures to control and minimise its impacts in order to preserve and safeguard our marine environment.”

But he said the government understands it is important to strike a balance between economic benefits and environmental preservation.

“It is critical that we prepare for the ocean incident and in order to effectively mitigate the detrimental and long-lasting effects that may emerge from these disasters.”

Speaking with the media during a break in the workshop, the ministry’s director of Maritime Services Ronald Alfred said it is important for the authorities to be prepared to deal with an oil spill in TT waters, regardless of its size.

Alfred said the authorities can deal with an oil spill if one takes place and the workshop is just a refresher, as there has been staff attrition in some responding agencies.

“We want to be prepared, should one drop happen, should ten barrels happen, should 100 barrels happen…That's going to take a co-ordinated effort if there's a major spill, and that's what this training is about, really getting that national co-ordination going so that we could tend to them quickly in a professional manner.”

Officials from the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency, Information and Training Centre (REMPEITC) also attended to share their experiences with the stakeholders.

REMPEITC is one of four regional activity centres of the Caribbean Environment Programme and is largely funded by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN Environment Program (UNEP) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

REMPEITC representative US Coast Guard Lt Matthew Martin shared what he hoped to achieve at the end of the workshop.

"We've got four consultants that are here to highlight their many years of experience in oil-spill preparedness and response. So we look forward to sharing the standards and guidance from IMO, as well as regional case studies and lessons learned from other oil spills in the region.”

Martin said REMPEITC focused on oil-spill preparedness throughout the region, “as a spill in one part of the Caribbean affects the whole Caribbean.”

He added the main goal is to ensure everyone is aware of their role when responding to an oil spill, “to ensure that we have shared objectives, whether you're an oil producer or a part of the government.

"There's no one who's rooting for an oil spill here. So we want to make sure that we're all on the same page and we're organised and co-operating, not just across governments in the Caribbean, but also within the government here in TT.”

There have been several oil spills in TT waters in recent years.

One of the most damaging occurred in August 2021 and took several weeks to clean up. It affected a significant portion of Trinidad’s west coast, with oil spotted off the coast of Carli Bay, Claxton Bay, Caroni, Orange Valley, La Brea and Cedros.