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Safety data sheet says spilled Asphaltene Inhibitor bad for aquatic life
Kaieteur News – A safety data sheet outlining information about the chemical asphaltene inhibitor which spilled during a transfer to the Stabroek Block Liza Destiny floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) has been noted to pose long term hazard to the marine environment.
A part of the safety sheet highlighting the dangers of the chemicals
Kaieteur News became aware of the incident over the weekend and was told that earlier this month, over 900 gallons of the chemical was spilled into the ocean when a GBoats Guyana vessel was making the transfer. The safety document states that outside of the chemical being “combustible,” it is “hazardous to the aquatic environment- long term hazard, Category 1” and “Acute hazards to the aquatic environment Category 2.”
It is understood that the various categories speak about how hazardous a product is. Category 1 is always the greatest level of hazard, that is, it is the most hazardous within that class and could be divided further into Category 1A within the same hazard class and is a greater hazard than category 1B.
A United Nations document on Environmental Hazards explained that where the product has a pictogram, then the main concern is its toxicity for aquatic life. Aquatic hazards may include short-term (acute) hazards which look at short-term impacts on various aquatic life forms such as fish, crustaceans, algae, and aquatic plants. Category 1 deals with the seriousness of toxicity.
The safety data sheet also related other effects of the chemical on human contact. It highlighted also individual effects of some of the chemicals within the mixture. These complications include irritation, redness of the eyes, blurred vision and possible permanent damage. Irritation, corrosion to the skin, burns on absorption of harmful amounts was also related to the chemical as when as negative effects on the lungs if inhaled. The document continued that and accidental release requires the spill to be cleaned with absorbent material and the required equipment.
Specifically, it was noted that it should be avoided that the chemical runoffs into waterways. The information given in the document said that it is designed only as a guide for safe handling, use, processing, storage, transportation, disposal and release and is not to be considered a warranty or quality specification.
Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Khemraj Parsram has confirmed that an investigation has been launched into the leak of 925 gallons of chemical. He told the Kaieteur News on Monday that the spill occurred earlier this month and a report was made. So far, he said, the matter is still under investigation and all the facts are being ascertained before further steps could be taken. Kaieteur News reported that the spill would have leaked approximately 18.5 barrels of the chemical into the ocean.
The newspaper was told that the spill occurred on June 7. It is said that a milky substance was noticed floating atop the water before the transfer was stopped and calculations were conducted to ascertain the amount of substance that was leaked. The newspaper was told that “The chemical asphaltene inhibitor resulted in several fishes dying and floating to the surface.” “I gather no one was paying attention and the hose that linked the two vessels leaked.”
Asphaltene inhibitor is described as a chemical used in the oil and gas industry to remove asphaltenes from crude oil. Asphaltenes are the impurities found in crude oil that if not removed can choke refining equipment. Asphaltenes can cause significant damage to machinery as they tend to clog highly capitalized infrastructure such as well tubulars, crude oil pipelines and subsurface equipment such as pumps and compressors. This clogging can eventually halt the crude oil refining process.
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