Local sensitization vital to Guyana’s gas-to-shore project

Local sensitization vital to Guyana’s gas-to-shore project – Energy Strategist

Mar 10, 2021 News

Vice President an Energy Strategist at Energy Company Eversource Energy, Roger Kranenburg.

Kaieteur News – One key factor to ensuring that Guyana’s gas-to-shore project is executed without a hitch is to ensure that the local populace is fully aware of the impacts that it is likely to have on the environmental and country at large.

That piece of advice to Guyana is coming from the Vice President (VP) and Energy Strategist of US Energy Company Eversource Energy, Roger Kranenburg. He was at the time appearing on an online discussion hosted by OilNOW whereby he was examining the environmental impacts of the project on February 28.

“I think it is very important to look at the local impact and a big part of that is to look at the local sensibilities on that environmental impact and I will share with you that gas is completely and wholly consistent with an environmentally sensitive future,” he stated.

Since the announcement of the project, there has been much discussion on the environmental impact, which it may have. This is taking into consideration the fact that the governing administration identified Wales as the ideal site to set up the onshore facility without first conducting an environmental impact assessment.

That study along with a geophysical study, a geotechnical study and a lidar study are expected to be conducted soon, as according to government.

But many have argued that these studies should have been done prior to selecting a location seeing that the pipeline is expected to be placed across one of the country’s busiest river, the Demerara.

Similarly, in the US, according to the Eversource VP, the gas pipelines run throughout thousands of states so it is imperative that the public is aware of the potential environmental effects and disruptions it can have.

He continued, “If you look at the gas pipeline system in the US, it crisscrosses everything. It is all under the cities. I was hiking with my kid on a ‘gallQuin’ pipeline so the key thing is that it has to be done but it has to be done right and the companies that do it have to be held accountable for not doing it right and that starts by local sensibility.”