Penalties for infractions a slap on the wrist-EPA Head

Mar 31, 2020 News

Even though Troy Resources Guyana Inc. has been fined $1M for the spill of 5000 litres of fuel at its Karouni Mine, Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Vincent Adams, says this is “nothing but a slap on the wrist.”

EPA Head, Dr. Vincent Adams

The EPA Head said that the fine enforced is the maximum that that can be meted out based on the law. “But this is certainly not sufficient in my eyes. I would have preferred to have flexibility to go beyond that $1M not only in this instance but others too.”
Dr. Adams is of the firm conviction that $1M is not enough to discourage companies against taking a lax approach towards the protection of the environment. He said that these companies should “be made to feel some amount of pain” to their bottom line. “Only then you will see a true sense of respect and compliance with what the law requires,” the official added.
The EPA official also noted that he is in the process of reviewing the antiquated law governing the regulatory body while noting that he will be paying particular focus on improving provisions regarding penalties. “What we are looking to do is to increase our flexibility so that we can deter certain actions. We don’t need Troy Resources alone to understand that we mean business but Repsol and all the others that are taking safety procedures for granted,” Dr. Adams concluded.
The EPA Head had told Kaieteur News that Spanish oil exploration and production company, Repsol, had contracted Valaris, an offshore drilling contractor headquartered in London, United Kingdom, to drill an exploratory well in the Kanuku Block last year.
Dr. Adams had said that the operation in the Kanuku Block was not conducted in conformity with rigid safety procedures or else a valve would not have been left open resulting in mud spilling into the ocean.
Dr. Adams said he subsequently sent a three-person team, which included one official from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), at the end of November to conduct several interviews.
He said that inquiries revealed that there was, as he suspected, no PROPER procedures in place. “If they did, they would have known the position of every valve. This is a matter of adhering to safety procedures. It could have been worse…,” added the EPA Head.
He further noted that all oil companies were summoned to a “serious discussion” about what is expected of them. Going forward, the EPA head said that the agency would be checking the safety procedures for all the oil companies. Like Troy Resources, Repsol was fined $1M but for the spill of 84 barrels of drilling mud into the ocean.

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