EPA lawyer now tells nation any citizen can view Exxon’s US$2B parent guarantee at the agency

Jan 25, 2024 News

Kaieteur News – Any Opposition Member, and the citizenry by extension, is free to approach the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to see a copy of ExxonMobil Guyana Limited’s US$2B parent company guarantee to cover oil spill expenses in the Stabroek Block.

Attorney-at-Law, Sanjeev Datadin

Making this clarification in the National Assembly on Wednesday was Government Parliamentarian and Attorney-at-Law, Sanjeev Datadin during his contribution to the 2024 budget debates. Datadin was keen to note that the EPA is governed by a statute that does not allow placing such a document in the public domain. His comments were in response to Opposition parliamentarian, Shurwayne Holder who spoke on the matter on Tuesday. Holder had criticized the government for not making the US$2B guarantee public. He deemed the refusal to do so as “unpatriotic.”

The US$2B parent company guarantee is related to a case that was filed in September 2022 by two Guyanese, Frederick Collins and Godfrey Whyte. Through their lawyers, Seenath Jairam, SC, Melinda Janki, and Abiola Wong-Innings, the citizens called for the EPA to obtain from ExxonMobil Guyana, unlimited liability coverage for oil spills.

On May 3, 2023, High Court Judge Justice Sandil Kissoon ruled in favor of the litigants, ordering the EPA to secure an unlimited parent and/or affiliate company guarantee. However, Exxon and the EPA appealed this decision. Pending the outcome of the case, Appellate Court Judge, Justice Persaud mandated Exxon to provide a US$2 billion guarantee by June 8, 2023. The litigants have since made several attempts to see the document but all efforts proved futile.

Taking the foregoing into account, Holder told the House on Tuesday that no patriotic government would refuse to make Exxon’s financial package for oil spills public so that citizens can feel a sense of security.

During his contribution to the 2024 budget debate, Datadin who also serves as the EPA’s lawyer, clarified that there is no secrecy where the document is concerned.

“They (the EPA) are required to keep a register, a ledger of all those documents submitted and it is available for anyone, including the Honourable Member Mr. Shurwayne Holder to go to their office between normal business hours and he will be allowed to see it,” said Datadin.

Addressing Holder’s concerns about the perceived inadequacy of the US$2 billion allocation, Parliamentarian Datadin pointed out that such worries are unfounded due to the robust safeguard present in the EPA Act, specifically highlighting the “polluter pays principle.”

Datadin explained that this progressive measure, embedded in the EPA Act since 1966, clearly stipulates that any party responsible for pollution — whether it originates from oil, agriculture, or any other source — is legally mandated to cover all associated costs.

Thanks to this principle, Datadin assured that Guyana would not bear the financial burden of oil spill cleanups. Instead, the responsibility and expenses would fall entirely on Exxon and its partners.

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EPA, ExxonMobil, Insurance, oil spill, Stabroek Block

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