Fishermen unimportant, invisible to ExxonMobil

Jul 15, 2023 ExxonMobil, News, Oil & Gas

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Gas-to-Energy project…

…as company commences pipeline laying works with no consultation, compensation for disruptions – Janette Bulkan

Kaieteur News – Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), commonly referred to as ExxonMobil Guyana, has commenced laying the 12-inch pipeline that will be used to transport natural gas from the Liza Field in the Stabroek Block, to the Wales Development site on the West Bank of Demerara.

The disruption to the livelihoods of fisherfolk during this season, which usually accounts for the highest fish catches, have been disregarded by both the Government of Guyana (GoG) and its development partner, ExxonMobil according to Environmental activist Dr. Janette Bulkan.

Bulkan is a Guyanese scholar and Associate Professor in the Department of Forest Resources Management at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada. She has been an advocate on environmental matters for over a decade now.

In a letter to this publication on Friday, the environmentalist pointed out that, “The sheer organisational magnitude and efficiency of ExxonMobil as an industrial power was shown in the MARAD (Maritime Administration) Notices to Mariners numbers 106 and 107 (2023) dated 12 June…these Notices cover the near-shore laying of the pipe for the Gas-to-Energy project.”

Previous Notices by the state agency provided an advisory for the deep-water pipeline laying activities further offshore in the Liza field in the Stabroek Block. The new Notices however indicate that the construction team will be operating closer to shore in an area of 65 square nautical miles (22,500 hectares) out 39 nautical miles from the coast. An exclusion zone has been identified that stretches from the coast to about 18 nautical miles (33 kilometeres) offshore Guyana and covers an area of about 61 square nautical miles (208 square kilometers), according to the MARAD Notice.

Bulkan in her missive was keen to note that the exercise and exclusion plot covers a substantial area of traditional grounds of the artisanal coastal fishermen.  To this end, she argued, “There has been no public consultation about scheduling this work to avoid conflict with the season which usually provides the largest fish catches (and) no discussion about compensation for disrupting the livelihoods of Guyanese fishermen.”

The Environmental activist noted that “the treatment of our fishermen as invisible and unimportant to Exxon, and apparently to the Government, is evident if you have looked over the sea wall of Georgetown since the Jan De Nul dredgers have been widening and deepening the Demerara Ship Channel for Exxon’s support vessels and for constructing the VEHSI shorebase (Port of Vreed-en-Hoop) for NRG Holdings Inc.”

The Science Professor contends that since the dredging activities commenced to facilitate ExxonMobil’s production activities, a different type of mud is now visible from the seawall, stirred with fine sediments and swept eastwards by the inshore counter-current.

Dr. Bulkan explained that the mud from the local and Amazonian rivers provide nutrients for the sea creatures which feed the fish that Guyanese fishermen have been catching for generations. To this end, she reminded that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had waived an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project, while the fishermen who will face losses as a result were never engaged or compensated for the elimination of their traditional grounds by the new eastwards-sweeping sediment.

The Guyanese Professor said, “In a generation’s time, ExxonMobil and the other carpetbaggers will fold their tents and slink away. At the current rate, they will leave behind a despoiled Atlantic Ocean, reduced marine life, including shrimp and fish, and a polluted coastland in which only the rich can afford a decent life.”

During the conduct of the EIA by ExxonMobil Guyana for the pipeline component of the GTE project, stakeholders were engaged on possible environmental impacts of the project. The operator said fisherfolk were part of these engagements.

In that document, the oil company committed “EEPGL would keep the public informed about the general progress of the Project (e.g., completion of Project stages such as construction and installation) and respond to grievances (i.e., specific complaints) filed under the Project’s CGM (Community Grievance Mechanism).” However, there has been no update on the project by Exxon since it commenced. In fact, this newspaper made efforts in the past for photos of the ongoing works to be shared, but was told there were none available at the time. This was over a month ago.

Moreover, Exxon is yet to meet with fishermen directly on how the company’s operations to facilitate the GTE project can affect their livelihoods.

Fisherfolk cash-grant 

In 2022, the GoG handed out about $150 million in one-off cash grants to about 1,300 fisherfolk amid complaints of lower fish catches that some attributed to the onset of oil and gas activities in the country.

Though Exxon had alerted the authorities in its EIAs that the activities can pollute the country’s waters and impact the industry, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had argued there was no such effect. He explained that it was only a seasonal occurrence.

Weighing in on the government’s cash-grant initiative, Opposition Member of Parliament, David Patterson told Kaieteur News that it was merely a band-aid approach to solving the problems that plague the fisheries sector.

Patterson argued that a comprehensive plan was required to offer relief to the dwindling industry. He pointed out that a very important component of that plan should entail an independent baseline study into the fisheries sector. He stressed that while ExxonMobil has been conducting offshore studies, it would be outright foolish to believe the company would provide information that suggests negative about its operations, hence the need for an independent baseline study to be conducted.

Another important alternative Patterson listed was compensation from the oil company. He pointed out that the baseline study could help identify whether the oil operation is indeed impacting the country which would then tie the oil company to taking responsibility for the damages caused. The Shadow Oil and Gas Minister pointed to the urgency of the fishing industry being resuscitated as the subject of food security takes the limelight in the Caribbean.

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• compensation, ExxonMobil, fish, fishermen, oil, unimportant

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