Exxon plans to use highly toxic chemical banned in UK to contain oil spill offshore Guyana – Industry Expert warns

Aug 29, 2021 News

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Kaieteur News – Should an oil spill occur offshore Guyana at one of ExxonMobil’s Projects, be it the Liza Phase One, Liza Phase Two, or Payara, the oil company is proposing to use a highly toxic chemical to contain the disaster. Pointing this out recently was Petroleum Engineer, Robert Bea, one of the world’s most respected experts on disasters.

In an interview with The Guardian, which was published a few days ago, Bea said ExxonMobil’s plans to contain a potential oil spill in the Liza Phase One Project rely on methods that were heavily criticised when deployed in previous disasters. Expounding further, Bea said Exxon intends to use Corexit 9500, a chemical dispersant that was banned in the UK and faulted for severe human and environmental harms when used in previous oil spills such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Macondo oil spill.
Upon noting this, Kaieteur News via its own research found that the dispersant is also being recommended as part of ExxonMobil’s cleanup plan for a possible oil spill in the Liza Phase Two Project as well as the Payara Project.
For those who may not be aware, dispersants are chemicals that are sprayed on a surface oil slick to break down the oil into smaller droplets that more readily mix with the water. Dispersants do not reduce the amount of oil entering the environment, but push the effects of the spill underwater. While dispersants make the oil spill less visible, dispersants and dispersed oil under the ocean surface are hazardous for marine life.
Dispersants and dispersed oil have been shown to have significant negative impacts on marine life ranging from fish to corals to birds. It releases toxic breakdown products from oil that, alone or in combination with oil droplets and dispersant chemicals, can make dispersed oil more harmful to marine life than untreated oil. Both the short-term and long-term impacts of dispersants on marine life have not been adequately tested. As acknowledged by the EPA in the USA, the “long term effects [of dispersants] on aquatic life are unknown.”
For fish, research shows that dispersants create a toxic environment by releasing harmful oil breakdown products into the water. Also, dispersed oil has been shown to be toxic to fish at all life stages, from eggs to larval fish to adults, according to numerous laboratory studies that have tested a variety of species.
Significantly, dispersants and dispersed oil are particularly toxic to corals, leading scientists to call for a ban on dispersant use near coral reefs. Dispersants and dispersed oil harm the early stages of corals by increasing death rates, reducing settlement on reefs, and altering behavior. A formulation of one of the dispersants being used in the BP spill response, Corexit 9527, has been shown to prevent fertilisation of mature eggs and hinder the development of young life stages of reef-building corals.
According to the Minerals Management Service, dispersant components absorbed by sea turtles can affect their organs and interfere with digestion, excretion, and respiration.
With respect to birds, studies have found that dispersed oil, including oil dispersed by Corexit 9527, damages the insulating properties of seabird feathers more than untreated oil, making the birds more susceptible to hypothermia and death. Furthermore, dispersants and dispersed oil have also been shown to have toxic effects on bird eggs that are similar or worse than from untreated oil. Birds exposed to dispersed oil that return to their nests risk the death of their eggs.
As for humans, dispersants pose significant human health risks as well. One of the dispersants used at the BP spill, Corexit 9527A, contains the toxin 2-Butoxyethanol which “may cause injury to red blood cells (hemolysis), kidney or the liver” with “repeated or excessive exposure,” according to the manufacturer’s safety data sheet. Of significance is the fact that the Corexit 9527 was sprayed on the 11-million gallon oil slick created by the Exxon Valdez spill, and cleanup workers reportedly suffered health problems afterward, including blood in their urine as well as kidney and liver disorders, attributed to 2-Butoxyethanol.
Although approved by the EPA, formulations of Corexit 9500 and 9527 were banned from use in the United Kingdom in 1998 because laboratory tests found them harmful to marine life that inhabits rocky shores.
BP’s use of the more toxic, less effective Corexit dispersants is under scrutiny since the company that manufactures these dispersants, Nalco Co., has ties to the oil industry. In the 1990s, Nalco formed a joint venture company with Exxon Chemical Company and has board members and executives that have previously worked for Exxon and BP. Nalco has sold millions of dollars of dispersants for the BP spill. Nalco has also refused to disclose all of the ingredients in the Corexit products.

Sources
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/energy/dirty_energy_development/oil_and_gas/gulf_oil_spill/dispersants.html
http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/04/06/cleanup-products-deepwater-horizon-spill-were-toxic
https://www.morrisanimalfoundation.org/article/study-shows-toxic-effects-oil-dispersant-corexitr-9500-likely-oysters-following-2010
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/06/09/09greenwire-ingredients-of-controversial-dispersants-used-42891.html

 

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