EPA orders Exxon’s consultant to ‘fix’ Yellowtail Impact Assessment

Feb 28, 2022 News

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By Devina Bagot

Kaieteur News – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ordered ExxonMobil’s consultant, the Environmental Resources Management (ERM), to revise its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Yellowtail development – the oil company’s fourth project in the Stabroek Block.
Executive Director of the EPA, Mr. Kemraj Parsram, on Sunday confirmed that the agency’s Environmental Assessment Board (EAB) that was tasked with reviewing the company’s EIA, as well as submissions made by independent observers, had made the decision.

The development means that the oil giant’s licence that was expected to be granted next month may very well be put on hold.
Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, during a press conference earlier this month, revealed to members of the media that ExxonMobil and its partners, Hess Corporation and CNOOC, could get their licence for the US$9B Yellowtail Project by the end of next month.
He said there was the expectation that the review of the Field Development Plan and subsequent issuance of the environmental permit and licence would have been completed since December 2021. He said this did not occur as there were some setbacks. In spite of the internal challenges, Dr. Jagdeo said, “…We are working more, and we are anticipating the completion of everything by the end of March, latest. We have consultancies in place and the Ministry of Natural Resources (in review mode).”
Dr. Jagdeo said a draft licence is already worked out and a parallel process is being conducted by the EPA for an authorisation permit.
This newspaper understands that the ERM will now be required to make adjustments to its almost 1,500 pages document. While the EPA head did not reveal what specific adjustments were required, Kaieteur News had reported on the submissions made by environmentalists on the EIA document which was described as “significantly deficient” by one specialist, Simone Mangal-Joly.
The expert in an invited comment to this newspaper back in December argued that the document failed to specify how toxic waste brought to shore will be disposed of for the full life of the project, as well as the amount of toxic waste that will be generated.
Mangal-Joly in her comments to this newspaper noted that in the absence of such provisions, ExxonMobil must address this deficiency in the Yellowtail EIA.
She argued, “This matter should be of concern to all Guyanese. The quantities of toxic and other waste being brought to shore, health, and ecological risks of each of their constituent parts, and how they are treated and disposed of are critical issues, as the toxic waste treatment facilities are in areas where people live and all are at high-risk for flooding and creating a toxic soup on the coast, and our coastal groundwater aquifers are at risk. We stand to lose a lot. We need to understand the value of what we currently have and risk losing, both in terms of quality of life and health and monetary terms, and to protect ourselves and our valuable natural resources that could be despoiled.”
In fact, she said that the Yellowtail EIA cannot be accepted as it stands.
A group of international environmentalists, Alfred Buhlai, Vanda Radzik, Janette Bulkan, Denuta Radzik, Jerry Jailall, Alissa Trotz, Mangal-Joly and Maya Trotz, had made a submission to the EAB calling for the Yellowtail development EIA to be scrapped, given that the document fails to address critical subjects such as the impacts of the total waste brought to shore, and baseline data for Guyana’s fisheries sector.
The environmentalists said they are requesting information on “What Public Communication discharges there will be to air, water, and ground during treatment and what are the chemical compositions of these discharges and what risk do they pose to human health and ecology? Will any discharge be directly into rivers and estuaries with protected forest species, and if so, what threats do they pose to such bodies over the full life of the Yellowtail project? Will this discharge affect fisheries and other activities in any estuary? What is the chemical composition and risks of the residues that will be taken to a landfill? What is the total volume of waste bound for landfills during the life of the project? What is the total land demand for such landfill given the volume of waste produced over the life of the project? What are the standards for operation of such landfill, and what are the risks if these standards are violated?”
When it comes to baseline information on Guyana’s fisheries sector, the group requested the consultant to provide them with specific data such as the total number of formal and informal operators, size, catch per unit, effort in the dry versus the wet season, economic value of formal and informal production, livelihood dependency, economic linkages, and total economic value of the sector considering linkages with other sectors. It was also requested that information pertaining to the near-shore and offshore fish nurseries located and mapped by geospatial coordinates be provided.
The public feedback period on Esso Exploration Production Guyana Ltd’s (EEPGL), Exxon’s subsidiary, Yellowtail Environmental Impact Assessment was closed on December 15, 2021.
This project is expected to generate some 250,000 barrels of oil per day. Initial production is expected to begin by the end of 2025–early 2026, with operations continuing for at least 20 years.
The project is expected to employ up to 540 persons during development well drilling, approximately 600 persons at the peak of the installation stage, and 100 to 140 persons during production operations.

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