Latest update January 18th, 2025 7:00 AM
Guyana lacks resources to deal with oil spills/mishaps; should place the burden on Exxon
DEAR EDITOR,
The Diamond ‘oil gush’ which occurred not so long back should serve as a reminder of what could happen across Guyana’s Coastal Belt, as well as in our off-shore exclusive economic zone. This begs the question as to whether we are equipped/prepared to deal with such events. While many commentators and letter writers have voiced their concerns across the spectrum of media, it appears such voices have gone unheard or have fallen on deaf ears. Perhaps we are more concerned with the revenues to be derived, or are very optimistic that such mishaps won’t occur. Notwithstanding our reason(s), we need to look at occurrences around the world to fathom the extent of the negative impact such gushes/spills can have on the people of Guyana.
If we just project our imagination to a series of similar or bigger ‘Diamond’ gushes at villages or farmlands on the Essequibo Coast, Wakenaam, East Coast of Demerara, and Berbice we might get a better picture. The land as well as our farms and flora and fauna would be destroyed. Further, oil can end up in our rivers and underground freshwater streams, killing aquatic life and leaving the water unusable for domestic purposes. It should be noted that such occurrences are not uncommon in fracking operations. In the United States, for example, besides floating up on the surface at various places, oil ended up in the taps/faucets at homes. As a result, some States had raised concerns about health and environmental impact of fracking in the early 1980s. In response, many States have since 2012 banned fracking operations.
We should also keep in mind that ExxonMobil has had its full share of oil spills over the years. In 1989, a tanker spilled 250,000 barrels that took about 14,000 people and 3 years to clean-up. In 2010, ruptured pipelines in Nigeria spilled over one million gallons off-shore. In Montana, another ruptured pipeline spewed over 1000 barrels into the nearby terrain and rivers in 2011. It came as no surprise to many people when in 2015, Exxon came under investigations by the New York attorney general for misleading the public and investors about the dangers and potential business risks of climate change.
In Guyana, concerns have been raised about our readiness and capacity for any major disaster, especially with regards to oil spills/mishaps. It would appear, however, that those concerns have yet to receive serious attention by the administration. Given the high costs of clean-up operations where spills/mishaps have occurred around the world, it should be clear that Guyana is ill equipped to deal any such event and must therefore, look for other viable options.
In a nut shell, while we are not in a position to stop Exxon’s operations which promises much needed windfall financial/economic benefits, we must ensure that mechanisms are in place to carefully and constantly monitor our coastland and exclusive economic zone for early/timely detection/intervention of any spills/mishaps. To such ends, our government has the responsibility to lay the burden squarely on the shoulders of ExxonMobil which has the finance, personnel and equipment necessary for environmental clean-up.
Yours sincerely
Ronald Singh
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