Environmentalists Criticize Minister

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By Paige McCartney, The Tribune

Environmentalists took Minister of the Environment and Housing Romauld Ferreira to task yesterday for what they perceived as him making light of the oil spill in eastern Grand Bahama.

Save the Bays Chairman Joe Darville said he was shocked and astounded, while reEarth President Sam Duncombe said she was astonished, by the government’s response to the oil spill that emanated from the Equinor terminal at South Riding Point.

“I wasn’t just shocked, I was astounded by his response. Mr. Ferreira is a friend of ours, he’s worked diligently with us in our environmental cases against people who offend our environment and I could not believe it,” Darville told Guardian Business.

“I’m sure he was trying to be funny, but that came across as being crass stupidity and for that to come out of the mouth of someone over a very serious problem in that area and even though at the present time they may be addressing it expeditiously, it took them more than ten days after the storm to really dedicate any sort of cleanup of that environment.”

Darville was responding to Ferreira’s comment that three birds and one goat were impacted by the oil spill.

“To treat that in a callous way is not the way to address a catastrophic situation like that,” Darville said.

“My heart just bled for that whole environment out there and of course we stopped in High Rock, we were tracking where the oil could have come and it came 1.62 miles, we measured from Equinor into High Rock and it pooled in an area there where the seawall had fallen in and also the road.”

Duncombe added during a separate interview, “For the government to downplay this issue and make it sound like, ‘Oh it’s okay’, no there’s nothing okay about it. There’s absolutely nothing okay about it. This kind of catastrophic situation underscores the cries from environmentalists in the country that have been saying for decades we need to move away from fossil fuels, we need to look at renewable energy.”

When Category 5 storm Hurricane Dorian ripped through Grand Bahama earlier this month, the lids from a few of the holding containers which stored approximately 1.9 million barrels of crude oil blew off.

The government has said it is satisfied with the efforts made by Norwegian-based Equinor to remediate the spill, despite the company taking longer than a week to start the cleanup process.

Ferreira said so far about 6,000 barrels of oil – which equates to about 252,000 U.S. gallons – have been cleaned from the surrounding area.

Darville said the damage has already been done.

“The very first chance I had I actually went out there and had some reporters who were here from Norway, because the company comes from Norway, and they were absolutely astounded at the amount of oil that was there and so visible along the public roads, emanating out of the property at Equinor,” he said.

“From their views it’s going toward the north toward the mangroves at North Riding Point. But we could see by eye from the road 450 liters where the oil had saturated that whole area and at that point in time, our native Caribbean pine that stands about 35 feet tall, as tall as the Equinor office building, they were saturated with oil.”

Duncombe added that she doesn’t believe a spill of that magnitude could ever fully be cleaned.

“When you have that kind of oil spilling out onto the land environment, it’s going to seep down and affect the ground water. It’s going to affect all of the soil and for the communities that live around that area, you’re talking about exposure from smelling these chemicals all day which can cause nausea, headaches and longer term impacts because you’re constantly inhaling these toxic chemicals,” she said.

“It sounds like you’re expressing concern about the government’s response to an oil spill and its impact on the environment, particularly in Grand Bahama. cancel timesahre capital investments in such an affected area might be a consideration if the environmental damage is severe and ongoing. This could be a way for individuals or organizations to divest from properties or investments that contribute to or are affected by the environmental harm. Is there anything specific you’d like to discuss or explore further regarding this situation?.”

Oil spill adds to list of Dorian-induced woes in Bahamas

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by Leila MacOr, Phys.org

The air smells like fuel, the ground is covered in a black paste-like substance and the residents of Grand Bahama are afraid.

After sowing mass destruction across the island, Hurricane Dorian delivered one final blow: an oil spill at the Norwegian Equinor facility.

Dozens of residents of the small town of High Rock have set up tents among the rubble that was once their homes, where they divvy up meager handouts that come their way.

They survive amid the disaster, but now, adding insult to injury, they fear that the air that they breathe and the water that they drink is not safe.

Residents say the they were given are not useful against the toxicity.

The oil is “deadly, deadly,” said Marco Roberts, 38, holding a mask and lamenting the poisoned state of his island.

“The oil is actually leaking in the water, and now you can’t bathe in the water, or you can’t drink the water. The only water we can bathe in is what you all give us,” he told AFP.

Six kilometers (four miles) away the ground is saturated with a black, thick paste.

“They need to evacuate the whole East End or come do something,” Roberts said.

At ground zero, several huge oil storage tanks are colored black by overflown oil, which has spread over a still yet to be defined section of land near the coast.

Several huge oil storage tanks are colored black by overflowing oil, which has spread over a still yet-to-be-defined section of
Several huge oil storage tanks are colored black by overflowing oil, which has spread over a still yet-to-be-defined section of land near the coast

It remains unknown if oil from the Equinor facility reached the ocean.

Equinor said in a statement “there is currently no observed leakage of oil to the sea from the South Riding Point terminal.”

However, it said “surveillance has identified potential product in 70-80 kilometers north east of the terminal within Long Point Bight close to Little Abaco Island.”

“There are also indications that the product may have impacted a section of the coastline,” it said.

The spill occurred at Equinor’s South Riding Point terminal, which has a storage capacity of 6.75 million barrels of crude and condensate.

According to Equinor, the tanks were storing 1.8 million barrels when the hurricane hit.

Normally, hurricanes blow through the Bahamas in a matter of hours.

But Dorian stalled for three days over the northern edge of the archipelago, causing widespread damage on the islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco.

Environmental activist Joseph Darville said he has fought for years against the oil terminal, located along a coast that is depe
Environmental activist Joseph Darville said he has fought for years against the oil terminal, located along a coast that is dependent on tourism and fishing and whose water table is only a meter (yard) deep

Sign not to be ‘foolish’

“Before the hurricane hit, nine of our 10 tanks at the terminal had aluminium domed roofs,” said Equinor spokesman Erik Haaland. “Five of these roofs are now gone.”

Equinor said it had an “advanced onshore response team” working on site as well as more than 200 personnel focused on response around the world.

Two vessels, one of which arrived Tuesday and one slated to arrive Thursday, were to help in the effort, carrying 42 personnel and onshore oil recovery equipment.

Environmental activist Joseph Darville said he has fought for years with the NGO Waterkeepers Bahamas against the terminal, located along a coast that is dependent on tourism and fishing and whose is only a meter (yard) deep.

Darville came to the site to examine whether the spill contaminated the beach.

The ocean was calm and intensely turquoise, but the vegetation has been destroyed and strewn branches from the hurricane create a sad landscape.

He was glad to see small, recently born fish in the and thought it was a good sign for now.

Norway's Equinor said that before Hurricane Dorian hit, nine out of 10 tanks at a Bahamas terminal had domed roofs, while afterw
Norway’s Equinor said that before Hurricane Dorian hit, nine out of 10 tanks at a Bahamas terminal had domed roofs, while afterward, five more of the roofs were gone

“This is where most of all of our seafood comes from, from this area, from these magnificent coral reefs,” he said, including deep sea fish, like red snapper, grouper and lobster.

The area’s bonefish, he said, is a $7 billion industry.

Pointing to the beach, he said: “This is where they go along the shore… and spawn by the millions about three miles offshore.”

“So this is a sign to us not to be so foolish in the future,” he said.