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Court ruling on environmental permit paved way for citizens to challenge oil operators on other infractions
By Rehanna Ramsay
Kaieteur News – The court ruling which essentially brought the environmental permit for oil operators in conformity with the law paved the way for citizens to challenge oil companies over other environmental infractions.
Professor, Troy Thomas
This deduction was made by local scientist and university lecturer, Professor, Troy Thomas.
Prof. Thomas was at the time speaking about the High Court ruling which brought ExxonMobil’s Liza I’s 20+ years environmental permit in conformity with the law, which stipulates its validity for five years.
An order granted by Justice Jo Ann Barlow in 2020 effectively reduced Exxon’s environmental permit to the correct time as prescribed by law.
The matter was settled in court following an initial hearing of the case filed against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by Prof. Thomas.
Speaking with Kaieteur News recently, the former President of Transparency Institute Guyana Inc. (TIGI) emphasised the need for citizens to be more proactive on the issues related to protecting their environment.
He noted that while a few persons have been at the forefront to defend Guyana against Exxon and its bold faced environmental atrocities, it is for all Guyanese to take a stance.
He stressed too that having a shorter period for re-evaluation under the environmental permit gives citizens an opportunity to assess the work of the oil companies and make their demands.
“I think citizens need to realise the value of using their voice to make a difference’; this issue requires the effort of each and every citizen. For example, we had challenged successfully, the issuance of the environmental permit reversing it from 20 years to five years. Having done this, citizens can now challenge the oil companies… And I believe Exxon is a perfect candidate for this because they have been flaring; so this gives an opportunity for citizens to step up and challenge them to ensure that stricter perimetres are set, that they are forced to do remedial work…” posited Prof. Thomas.
“When the permit expires, citizens can make their demands,” he added.
Prof. Thomas noted that the constitution provides for citizens right to a clean environment.
“In my view this is something that government has to take serious…Our constitution is a serious document it is an expression of what our desire is as a people…so when it comes to petroleum production, when there is breach of our laws or our constitutions, it must be challenged,” he added.
The Guyanese scientist and transparency advocate has been among the few individuals challenging the oil companies on their environmental breaches.
Prof. Thomas has at least one active court case in which he is challenging Exxon on environmental grounds and in 2020, in another matter, he secured an outcome whereby both the EPA and Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd. (ExxonMobil’s local operating subsidiary in Guyana) agreed to limit the permit to five years, as provided by law.
As a result, an order was issued for Exxon’s permit in the Liza 1 oil field development to expire in the next 18 months instead of 2040 —24 years after the issuance originally granted by the EPA.
In his lawsuit, Prof. Thomas noted that the permits issued to Esso violated the EPA’s Regulation 19, which specifically cites the limits to the issuance of permits to five years after which it is subject to review before a fresh one is granted to the oil operators to ensure that their exploration activities are keeping with the laws that protect the environment.
According to the court documents, Prof. Thomas pointed out that the protracted permit is not only illegal but exposes Guyana and the rest of the world to serious, if not irreparable, harm and adverse environmental consequences.
He noted that, “since its oil lifting operations began in December 2019, Exxon’s Liza 1 operation has flared more than 10 billion cubic feet of natural gas… emissions which are toxic to the environment.”
Attorney-at-law, Seenath Jairam, who represented Prof. Thomas in the case alongside attorney Malinda Janki, said Prof. Thomas was commended and complimented for his conscientiousness and public spiritedness in drawing attention to the environmental matters.
“Our environment is our most precious resource and the lawmakers obviously intended that the EPA should have an opportunity at regular intervals to assess the suitability of an operator to continue operations, using international best practices,” the lawyer said, at the outcome of the court case.
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