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Guyanese unable to combat onslaught of rapid oil and gas projects – Environmentalists tell Exxon & partners
Kaieteur News – In a sparsely populated country which remains mostly uneducated in matters pertaining to the oil and gas industry, the people of Guyana have become burdened and more so unable to combat the onslaught of the rapid oil and gas developments currently taking place.
Alissa Trotz
This is the view of a group of environmentalists, who recently highlighted their concerns in a letter to the Board of Directors of the US oil major, ExxonMobil. The letter was also sent to the oil company’s Chief Executive Officer, Darren Woods as well as Exxon’s local affiliates – Hess and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC).
In the document, dated June 2, 2022, the activists, including Alissa Trotz, Isabelle DeCaries, Jocelyn Dow, Elizabeth Deane-Hughes, Arthur Thijm, Michael Adams, Sharmaine Narine, Pamela Fraser and Hollis France all agreed that the oil operations have had serious consequences on the environment and its multi-ethnic people, as the activities continue to take place in disregard for the legal regulations of Guyana.
“ExxonMobil is currently concentrating most of its future development in the oil and gas sector in this country located on (the) coast of South America. From the inception, Liza-1 Oil Field Development, ExxonMobil has ignored concerns expressed locally and internationally,” the group explained. They said that the Liza One development started up without parent company insurance, coupled with the lengthy startup time for flaring; illegal and continuous gas flaring; dumping of toxic waste water in the sea and the company’s refusal to sign or add names of directors as required by the Environmental Protection (EP) Act. While listing another area in which they believe international best practices were ignored, as well as the law governing the operations, the environmentalists shared that there are controversial environmental impacts outlined for Liza One and Two, as well as Yellowtail projects.
Elizabeth Deane-Hughes
Meanwhile, as it pertains to the Gas-to-Energy pipeline, they complained that the proposal is fraught with environmental irregularities and non-compliance with legal requirements. This is particularly so as the developer failed to consult with those within the Area of Influence (AOI), and did not submit a Gas Leak Management Plan that would identify measures to be implemented in the event of a gas leak.
The activists alluded to the fact that Guyana was bestowed with the prestigious #1 “Best of Ecotourism” destination award in 2019, as they urged the company to stop the abuse of the country. They said, “We, the undersigned, speak on behalf of present and future generations of Guyanese, seek your intervention to prevent our beautiful green lush country Guyana from heading into instability due to ExxonMobil’s lack of adherence to environmental norms & legal requirements.”
Regarding the development of the gas sector, the environmentalists reasoned, “On 18 June, 2022 the prescribed period for comments as per Environmental Protection Act ends; once this period ends ExxonMobil moves unto the permission stage with the above mentioned non-adherence to rule of law of Guyana. This would mean that the Gas sector would be ungovernable and unregulated. Guyana has no Gas Leak Management Plan or System and ExxonMobil has full knowledge of this…immediate attention from Engine 1’s Board members is needed before 18 June to stop this devolvement into a Rule of Law/Constitutional Crisis propelled by ExxonMobil actions and non responses.”
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