Concerns grow over delay in court ruling on case challenging Exxon’s flaring

Jan 05, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – Three Guyanese women who filed a case against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last year for amendments made to ExxonMobil Corporation’s Stabroek Block permits to allow for excess flaring in exchange for a fee, are now pleading with the courts to hand down its ruling soonest.

In a letter to the editor of this newspaper, Sinikka Henry, Sherlina Nageer and Andriska Thorington said the ruling that was promised by Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire is now delayed by six months.

In the letter, they wrote, “we are ecologically minded Guyanese who care about the environment and are concerned about the extended and dangerous gas flaring from the oil production activities of ExxonMobil in Guyana’s offshore waters. As such, we became plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency of Guyana and Esso (Exploration and Production Guyana Limited).”

The women noted that the matter was heard by the Chief Justice May 12, 2022. They said at the conclusion of the hearing, the Chief Justice indicated that she would deliver her decision in July 2022. “However, we are now in a new year and still awaiting the ruling, six months later than promised. Several letters inquiring about this judicial delay were sent from our attorney to the Registrar of the Supreme Court, but to no avail. We are now ventilating this issue in the public domain in hopes of obtaining a speedy resolution to this matter,” the women stated in their appeal.

Flaring that was ongoing aboard the Liza Destiny

The case which was filed last year January, through their attorneys-at-law Melinda Janki and Ronald Burch-Smith intended to secure an order that would stop excessive flaring by ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, EEPGL on the Liza Destiny vessel. Flaring had dragged on from December 2019 to mid-2022 due to a malfunctioning gas compressor which was subsequently fixed later last year.

The litigants contended that the EPA’s decision to modify Esso’s environmental permit to allow flaring was irrational and unlawful and that it should be quashed by the court. They also argued that the agency breached the Environmental Protection Act Cap. 20:05 by purporting to allow Esso to flare in return for paying a fee.

The litigants have asked for orders directing the agency to provide reports on the amount of gas flared, and the toxins released. They also asked for an independent and expert investigation into Esso’s compliance with manufacturer’s standards for operating its gas compressor.

Extensive research conducted by Kaieteur News shows that gas flaring contributes to climate change, which has serious implications for the human security and wellbeing globally. In fact, the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria, outlined in one of its studies, that gas flaring is actually a major source of greenhouse gases, which accelerates global warming.

It was noted that flaring releases carbon dioxide and methane, the two major greenhouse gases. Of these two, Methane is actually more harmful than carbon dioxide. It is also more prevalent in flares that burn at lower efficiency.
Of the greenhouse gases researched so far, Kaieteur News understands that the global warming potential of a kilogramme of methane is estimated to be 21 times that of a kilogramme of carbon dioxide when the effects are considered.

The University of Ibadan study also noted that flaring contributes to local and regional environmental problems, such as acid rain with attendant impact on agriculture, forests and other physical infrastructure. The acid rain results in environmental degradation, which includes soil and water contamination and roof erosion.

Furthermore, there have been over 250 identified toxins released from flaring including carcinogens such as benzopyrene, benzene, carbon disulphide (CS2), carbonyl sulphide (COS) and toluene; metals such as mercury, arsenic and chromium; sour gas with hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and sulfur dioxide (SO2); nitrogen oxides (NOx); carbon dioxide (CO2); and methane (CH4) which contributes to the greenhouse gases.

To date, no reports have been released on the extent of the flaring done by Exxon and the number of toxins released into the atmosphere.