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Will Guyana face same design flaw in Liza two Payara? – Dr. Vincent Adams
…Malfunctioning of gas compressor
By Mikaila Prince
Former Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, Dr. Vincent Adams
Kaieteur News – While it is reasonable to expect unplanned disruptions in operations, what must be unacceptable are the same type of disruptions caused by the same type of equipment failure, of which the Government was overly accommodating in accepting for over one year. Expressing these and other critical statements is the former Direct of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Vincent Adams, on the recent news of ExxonMobil increasing flaring from its pilot levels at their Liza Destiny operations offshore Guyana.
ExxonMobil, on Saturday, related that the issue of increased flaring was due to an defective seal on the gas compressor.
This was the same gas compressor that had malfunctioned in 2020. It resulted in Exxon – which touts itself as an effective manager of its waste – flaring 12.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas for over a year. This gas released over 250 toxins including, cancer causing agents such as benzopyrene, benzene, carbon disulphide (CS2), carbonyl sulphide (COS), and toluene. It also releases metals such as mercury, arsenic, and chromium and nitrogen oxides.
Not forgetting to mention that Exxon said on record in 2016 that it would commit to zero flaring from day one after the start of operation. The fact, however, is that “Day one” turned into day 300 and more, Dr. Adams reminded.
What the former EPA Director went on to point out as “even more egregious and uncaring for the health, environment and wellbeing of the People of Guyana”, was Exxon’s subsidiary Esso Exploration Production Guyana Limited’s (EEPGL) revelation during the Payara review.
In that revelation, Dr. Adams says, EEGPL had uttered that it is acceptable to discharge air pollutants through flaring because Guyana is a carbon sink and therefore has the capacity to absorb more pollutants. This proposal, Dr. Adams says, that had brought instant rejection by EPA.
He stated that the local regulator even thought it reasonable and had also demanded that Exxon comply with the same standards, which they have to abide within the United States which allows flaring for a maximum of 48 hours after startup.
“Further, they could never answer the question as to why this type of flaring equipment failure is only occurring in Guyana, when Guyana has by a long shot, not been their first operation and experience, and when they have similar types of equipment supposedly operating just fine in other parts of the world,” Dr. Adams articulated.
He went on to remind that these types of disruptions are easily avoidable and cannot be blamed on the manufacturer, especially when it comes to new brand equipment, while weighing in that Exxon is aware that it owns the responsibility to ensure the manufacturing is done in full accord with the design specifications through a “rigorous” Quality Assurance/Quality Control Plan, which they have to oversee.
“EPA emphasized this to them several times,” he recalled, “even though it should have been second nature for a company of this stature. They cannot wait until the equipment arrives to figure out that the wires are aligned incorrectly, or the seals are made of the wrong material, when they have done this numerous times before. Why is Guyana different?”
This unfortunate rehash of event highlights the urgency for the Government to provide the resources to properly equip the EPA with the necessary capacity for oversight of these operations, Dr. Adams indicated, including 24/7 on site presence and investment in training and recruitment of the specialized requisite skills – which are all already incorporated in a plan developed between the EPA, Department of Energy (DoE) and the World Bank.
Compounded with this is Dr. Adams’ urgency for the government to ensure that the design flaws in the Liza Destiny permit are not present the Liza Two and Payara developments.
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