Exxon hires Texas firm to conduct environmental studies for fifth project

May 26, 2022 News

…previous company backs out due to controversy

Kaieteur News – A Texas-based company, which is where United States oil giant, ExxonMobil is also headquartered, has been hired to conduct the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the company’s fifth oil project Uaru Plus.

Acorn International Consultant, Grace Russel

Acorn International is the new firm that will be carrying out the impact assessment for Exxon, through its subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL).
On its website, the company said, “Acorn International delivers the expertise, solutions and assurance that global businesses need to thrive in high-risk environments amidst community opposition, environmental liabilities, and shareholder activism. We aim to promote more sustainable relationships between business, affected stakeholders and the affected environment, to help all three thrive.”
Meanwhile, at a scoping exercise, held to inform the EIA, Grace Russel, a biologist and environmental consultant attached to the US firm explained that she was hired by ExxonMobil, and received a no-objection from the EPA to carry out the assessments.
The decision to select another Consultant was forced after Exxon was pressured by environmentalists, who questioned the independence of the lone firm that has been conducting such studies to date, Environmental Resources Management (ERM).
ERM completed environmental impact studies for the four oil projects approved to date by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as well as the EIA for Exxon’s part of the Gas-to-Energy project.
A group of Environmentalists wrote to the EPA back in December, requesting that it disclose the list of other qualified consultants, from which the Environmental Resources Management was selected to conduct EIAs.
In the document seen by this publication, the experts Simone Mangal-Joly, Alfred Buhlai, Vanda Radzik, Janette Bulkan, Denuta Radzik, Jerry Jailall, Alissa Trotz and Maya Trotz questioned the independence of ERM since records show that the ExxonMobil subsidiary has only ever selected the ERM to conduct all its Environmental Impact Assessments and management plans to date.
It was not until in April of this year that the EPA came out saying that it is now compiling a list of competent Consultants to conduct EIAs in Guyana. The agency explained it is currently developing a “fair and robust system for compiling this list of approved persons with appropriate qualifications and experience to conduct EIAs.”
In the interim, the EPA noted that it currently approves Consultants on a case by case basis, informed by the respective agency’s qualifications and experience in conducting environmental studies, similar to what is required.
“Many of the consultants approved are members of international Professional Environmental Impact Assessment Associations, which lends credibility regarding their qualifications and experience to conduct EIAs. Further, the team of approved consultants in this case covered several areas of expertise and were both international and local consultants with requisite qualifications and experience,” the EPA pointed out.
In response to the EPA’s statement, one Environmentalist, Simone Mangal-Joly stated that the agency seems to have allowed itself the right to cheat the process, by ignoring Section 3 (a) of the EP Act.
“There is nothing in the Act that speaks to an alternative means through which the EPA may select qualified persons to conduct EIAs. Whether one does it on a case-by-case basis or from a pool, or whether it is a local or foreign individual or company, Section 3(a) of the Act is clear that the Agency cannot select the consultants by itself; the selection must be done “with the assistance of internationally recognised environmental groups.” This is specifically to avoid bias and underhandedness,” she pointed out.
The environmentalist argued that the EPA was aware of this requirement before selecting ERM, as complaints on the subject were raised during the Yellowtail public comment period. (Davina Bagot)