Latest update February 10th, 2025 7:48 AM
Haags Bosh dumpsite quickly running out of space for Exxon’s waste – Exxon’s EIA reveals
The Haags Bosch Landfill, Eccles, East Bank Demerara.
…Govt. will need to develop new facility soon
Kaieteur News – The main dumping ground for waste generated by the still nascent oil and gas industry is the multi-billion-dollar Haags Bosch dumpsite, but with each new ExxonMobil led project, its capacity is quickly being depleted. So much so that the waste management infrastructure capacity is expected to be sufficient to support project operations in the short term—up to 4 years.
This much is spelled out in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that was submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency for its US$12.7B Whiptail Development Project.
According to the operator, ongoing coordination with the government and waste management providers is necessary to ensure the long-term waste management needs are met.
In the meantime, the EIA documents state that the planned project activities could impact waste management infrastructure capacity for current users of Georgetown-based waste treatment facilities.
According to the EIA, the ExxonMobil led consortium and other oil and gas operators are the primary users of hazardous waste management facilities and “since 2019, there has been a substantial expansion of third-party commercial hazardous waste handling, storage, and treatment facilities in Georgetown. The general Georgetown community (inclusive of all residential and non-residential users) is the primary user for non-hazardous waste landfills.”
To this end it was noted that the construction of a second cell at the Haags Bosch site was completed in 2021 and continued upgrades and improvements are ongoing.
“With these improvements and the construction of two additional cells, the HBL facility has capacity for the next 10 years,” the document said.
Additionally, ExxonMobil outlined in its EIA that subsequent decisions regarding further expansion of existing or new municipal waste landfills will be undertaken by the Government of Guyana with the input and support of the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development and the EPA, and participation of the public and other stakeholders.
ExxonMobil said the projected project waste generation represents a significant portion of the total demand for Georgetown-based hazardous waste treatment facilities and its contributions of non-hazardous solid waste volumes sent to the dumpsite already represents up to seven (7) percent of the total annual volume received by the facility.
The Haags Bosch site is government-owned and is operated by a third party contractor and is at present the only engineered sanitary landfill in Guyana and started operations in early 2011.
That dumpsite is at present the current destination for most municipal and commercial solid non-hazardous waste generated from the greater Georgetown area, including wastes generated from the 25-plus Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) between Mahaica, the Seawall, Timehri, and Parika.
This in addition to the fact that all of the non-hazardous solid waste generated to date from the ExxonMobil projects is being disposed of there.
The original disposal cell (Cell 1) is closed, and Cell 2 started operations in late March 2021. The remaining estimated life span of Cell 2 depends on how much the waste volumes received at the landfill increase with the expanded economic development expected in the Georgetown area over the next 5 years.
However, the EIA said there remains space for additional cell(s) at the HBL location to be developed in the future.
ExxonMobil Guyana’s non-hazardous solid wastes that are not recyclable are disposed at the Haags Bosch site.
The EIA also states the site will be used for the “disposal of the treated residues and other non-hazardous wastes that would be expected to be generated during a spill response,” for its Whiptail Project.
“New landfill development in the region may be appropriate for consideration going forward,” the oil company said.
It was explained that in the absence of other oil and gas/industrial operations exerting a significant increase in the demand on Georgetown-based hazardous waste treatment facilities, the cumulative projected peak hazardous waste generation at approximately 550 tonnes per month, would represent a significant portion of the total demand for Georgetown-based hazardous waste treatment facilities.
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