Gas-to-Energy Project will likely destroy Guyana’s water supply – Geologist 

Dec 04, 2022 News

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…country at risk of cancer 

By Davina Bagot

Kaieteur News – The location identified by the Government of Guyana for the country’s gas-to-energy project is unsuitable and will likely pose great danger to the country’s main groundwater aquifer.

An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials. Groundwater from aquifers is extracted using a water well.

The Government of Guyana, through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last Friday approved ExxonMobil’s pipeline and Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) Plant for Wales, West Bank Demerara (WBD) in the absence of any updated studies.

Notably, a critical document to prove the safety of the area was never published. The site at Wales sits above Guyana’s main groundwater aquifer that provides 90 percent of all the domestic and commercial water.

As such Geologist Simone Mangal-Joly has labeled the approval of Exxon’s project “criminal”.

In an exclusive interview with this publication, the environmental advocate pointed out that: “When you look at that EIA, it says the impacts on the groundwater will be negligible. Nowhere in the world can you put a power plant and an NGL plant and a pipeline over ground water and it never gets seriously impacted. Basic common sense will tell you that upset conditions of spills etc. over the 30-year life of such heavily polluting industries put the groundwater at high risk. And this is our most prized groundwater aquifer. Guyana’s coastal water supply comes mainly from the A Sand Aquifer, which lies below the Wales Estate.”

Mangal-Joly continues: “This aquifer has our best quality water supply and it is connected underground to our two other aquifers of lesser quality, which we do not rely on as much. That water has taken millions of years to accumulate, and we will destroy it without a second thought. Water is an expensive and increasingly scarce resource globally. It is more valuable than oil. Every Guyanese now and in the future needs that water that is why the EPA should not have approved the project for that site.”

The geologist explained that when hydrocarbon pollutants get into your water supply, they remain there permanently, and are cancerous, making the water unsafe for consumption.

Mangal-Joly said:  “I would have thought that industries in Guyana such as Banks DIH and others relying on water for manufacturing and bottling would have shown greater interest in this matter.”

She opined that “The Wales site was selected for political reasons not technical reasons” while noting that the location is “unfit for this type of industry”.

“If you look at the Guyana National Land Use Plan, which was prepared with support from the European Union, you will see that Wales is located in the area at the highest risk for flooding due to storm surge and sea level rise by 2031. That’s less than ten years away. Climate models since then all support this prediction. The EIA prepared by ERM does not address pollution risks properly, especially in upset conditions. I have said from the beginning that this EIA process was illegal and severely flawed. It was just a rubber-stamping process. Imagine in a country with all this space, and we have an EPA choosing to approve projects in locations with such existential costs to present and future generations. These approvals include the many oil and gas toxic waste processing facilities and the dumping that is happening on the coastland – just above our shallow water table,” the geologist explained.

The environmental advocate said having firsthand experience with the EPA, she is of the view that “it not only lacks basic competency needed for managing the oil and gas industry but also is severely corrupted by external interference to green light oil and gas projects regardless of their consequences.”

Mangal-Joly said, “Frankly, I think what is happening is criminal. In a properly functioning democracy, the Executive Director and those who supervise him would be hauled before a Commission of Inquiry for the long list of irrational and illegal decisions they have taken to date, and would possibly face jail time.”

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on November 25 gave US oil giant, ExxonMobil its blessings to commence the US$1.3 billion Gas-to-Energy project that will allow for the construction of a natural gas pipeline, as well as a Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) facility and supporting infrastructure at Wales, West Bank Demerara.

While many stakeholders had raised concerns regarding the safety of the project, the EPA in its decision to grant the Permit said the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) have been declared acceptable, by the Environmental Assessment Board (EAB) in accordance with section 11(13) of the Environmental Protection Act, Cap. 20:05.

“The EPA is satisfied that the project can be conducted in accordance with good environmental practices, and in a manner that avoids, prevents and minimizes any adverse effects which could result from the activity,” it said. Exxon has been granted a five year Permit by the agency, this means it will remain in effect until November 24, 2027. It will be renewed only after the Permit Holder submits an application form six months before its environmental authorisation expires.

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