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‘Court revoking approval of Gas-to-Energy Permit a waste of time’
…EPA would almost automatically grant second authorisation – Exxon says
Kaieteur News – Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), the operator of the Stabroek Block that was awarded a Permit by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to construct the 12-inch gas pipeline has told the High Court that revoking the authorisation would be a waste of time and resources.
ExxonMobil Guyana President, Alistair Routledge
The Permit granted to the operator and subsidiary of oil giant ExxonMobil was challenged by two citizens, Elizabeth Hughes and Vanda Radzik who argue that the company failed to prove ownership for the lands through which the pipeline passes, contrary to the Environmental Protection Act.
EEPGL, commonly referred to as ExxonMobil Guyana, in its defence application filed in the Court on July 13, 2023 said that the basis of the application is misconceived. Further, the company argued that the applicants have no locus standi or lack sufficient interest as required by Section 4(1) of the Judicial Review Act and Rule 56.01(4) of the CPR.
According to the company, “The grant of the reliefs sought is in any event discretionary. The land acquisition process for the Project has been completed, and to require the quashing of the Permit, and its re-application, in circumstances in which it would almost automatically be reissued would be a waste of public time and resources.”
Radzik and Hughes contend that ExxonMobil in its application, dated June 24, 2021 includes details of the project site, the proposed route of the pipeline and the areas to be used and affected by the project, which includes residential properties, commercial properties and state-owned properties. Be that as it may, the application did not include or provide any proof of ownership, a lease or other agreement with the land owners of the said area.
Notwithstanding, the EPA granted EEPGL a Permit to undertake the project on November 25, 2022. Subsequently, the Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill in January 2023 passed various orders to acquire lands for the purpose of the project, pursuant to the Acquisition of Lands for Public Purposes Act, Chapter 62:05. Regulation 17(2)(c)(ii) of the Regulations provides: “An application for an environmental authorization…shall contain the following information…(c) proof that the applicant either owns the facility or has a lease or other agreement with the landowner or occupier to enable the applicant to conduct the activity on the facility or has legal rights or ability to conduct the activity without the consent of the landowner or occupier.”
Exxon has told the High Court that the applicants are “mere busy bodies” and that the company is unaware of any proceedings instituted by any landowner or occupier to challenge the acquisition by the Government of Guyana of the former private lands for the project.
The oil company said, “The Applicants having asserted no right or interest in the land subject of which the environmental permit was granted and having failed to show that they, or indeed any other person, have been adversely affected by an alleged breach of Regulator 7(2)(C)(ii), I am advised by the Second Respondent’s Attorneys-at-Law and verily believe that the Applicants have not established locus standi or a sufficient interest to bring these proceedings…”
Exxon further argued that the applicants have failed to establish that the reliefs being sought are justifiable in the public interest as is required by Section 4(1 )(b) of the Judicial Review Act, 2010. On March 27, 2023, two citizens filed a legal proceeding in the High Court, challenging the Environmental Permit granted to ExxonMobil for the pipeline component of the GTE project. The 12-inch pipeline, some 225 kilometers will be used to transport gas from the Liza One and Two fields in the Stabroek Block to the Wales Development site, West Bank Demerara.
Through their lawyers, Melinda Janki, Abiola Wong-Inniss, and Joel Ross, the citizens are seeking an Order of Certiorari to quash the decision made by the EPA to award an Environmental Permit to ExxonMobil Guyana to undertake the GTE project activities, on the grounds inter alia that the decision was in breach of the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act (Cap. 20:05), and more particularly, the Environmental Protection (Authorisation) Regulations.
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