Chief Sec: Oily substance is 'unrefined' diesel

AFTER two weeks of speculation, THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine says the oily substance which continues to leak from the capsized barge, Gulfstream, off the coast of Canoe Bay, Tobago, is an unrefined, diesel-like substance.

He made the disclosure on February 20 during a news conference at Canoe Bay. The briefing came after a media tour of the island’s south-western coast, which has been severely affected by the oil spill.

Augustine said on February 19, the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) gave him a preliminary report of the samples that were taken from the vessel.

He added, “The report suggests that the fuel-like substance that we are seeing is a diesel-like substance. It is heavy and so it is not a very refined product.”

Notwithstanding this, Augustine said, IMA officials are expected to return soon to carry out additional taps because the last sample they received had some elements of sea water in it.

“The next step is to have identity markers for the fuel. In other words, we could almost track the DNA of the fuel and be able to say where it came from, which plant produced it. So that is the next layer of testing being done.”

Last week, in Parliament, Energy Minister Stuart Young described the oily substance as bunker C fuel, also called fuel oil. It is the residual oil left over after gasoline, diesel, natural gas are distilled out of the crude oil.