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EIAs – they do have value

Jul 09, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – The calls continue to come for necessary Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) to be conducted (“Govt. must conduct EIA for NGL, Power Plant -former EPA Head” – KN July 5, 2022).  Our first reaction was whether we really should, since what comes out of these EIAs in situation after situation do not reassure.  They only add to building anger, and growing frustrations with how almost all significant issues in the oil and gas sector are papered over, with Guyanese being misled.  But after that fleeting first reaction, we are for EIAs, since they have value.

Our history with EIAs has been two-fold.  The first is that, according to Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there is mostly no need for them, and on grounds that make no sense, in project after project.  Structures going up, complexes for materials being erected, and other major projects underway and this country’s EPA has been a study in official and leadership blindness, dumbness, and madness.

There is no other way that any sane citizen could assess the record of the EPA where EIAs are concerned.  Instead of this domestic agency doing its best to protect locals, like Guyana’s political leaders, it seems to be more concerned about doing what pleases for the foreigners who come here to engage in a growing number of billion-dollar businesses.  So, it shortchanges Guyanese where robust and comprehensive EIAs are concerned, and endangers us, as one environmentalist has been keen to note and raises at every opportunity presented.

This is what the former head of the EPA, Dr. Vincent Adams, has spoken of on several occasions, except that nobody is paying the slightest of attention, or evidencing any degree of adjustment that would comfort the anxious.  It is why he is now beating the drum for an EIA to be done for both the Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) Plant and the separate Power Plant.  From all indications, his call is falling on deaf ears.

ExxonMobil weaseled out of that issue by confirming that the administration will submit a separate application for their part of the project and the EPA will then decide, if an EIA is needed.  If ever there is a ‘no brainer’ decision, this is one, where an EIA is concerned.  This should not be an issue, something over which there has to be some lengthy and torturous deliberations over, whether an EIA is needed for the NGL and the Power Plant.  It is not just needed, but a must have, as in mandatory for both.

To leverage what Dr. Adams said, the reality is that a chemical plant is going to be setup in a heavily populated area. No one should have to say anything more in favour of an EIA for not just one, but both projects.  No one should be so foolish and irresponsible, as to offer any defense of not having an EIA, though worse things have been done here under the name of supervision of this oil and gas sector. Identifying the potential risks, laying out the mitigation steps, and concretising the response measures are all vitally necessary should a serious problem develop.  In these circumstances, the documentation of a well-done EIA is the best insurance protection that Guyanese can have.

The former EPA head, removed in the most subservient manner to oil company wishes by leaders in the PPP/C Government, further asserted that it would be a mistake not to conduct an EIA for the Power Plant since it would pose its own risks, and should be considered in the bigger picture, including of the NGL.  His critical point was that an EIA would identify key areas and linkages, and assist first responders in the event of an unfortunate event.

We at this paper think that it is better to have an EIA, than not to have one on crucial projects.  An EIA documents what was covered, what was not touched, and what was skirted around.  It confirms that the EIA exercise was a farce or the full works.  It enables deep scrutiny and probing questions being raised.  It leaves a record of who did what, who hid what, and who failed the Guyanese people.  We must have them for both the NGL and Power Plant.

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