EAB clears way for operations of radioactive facility at Houston

Apr 25, 2024 News

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Kaieteur News – The state-controlled Environmental Assessment Board (EAB) has cleared the way for the operations of a Radioactive Source Storage and Calibration Facility at Houston, East Bank Demerara.

The facility which is being developed by offshore drilling contractor – Schlumberger Guyana Inc. (SLB) was the subject of a court matter after residents of residents of Houston- Vanda Radzik, Danuta Radzik and Raphael Singh had filed the case after objecting to the first EIA waiver on the grounds that radioactive materials should not be used and located in close proximity to schools, neighbourhoods, a main thoroughfare, the Demerara River, etc. The issue has been under review by EAB since last September. On Wednesday, the EAB sent out a notice informing the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Kemraj Parsram of their decision to uphold the waiver of the EIA. The document seen by this newspaper informed in making its determination, the EAB noted that it took into consideration inter alia, the written and oral objections raised by the appellants prior to and at the public hearing held on August 7, 2023.

The board said that it is in conformity with the stance of the EPA’s right to not require an EIA. According to the EPA, Section 11 of the Environmental Protection Act, Cap.20:05 mandates that the EPA decides whether an EIA is required for a project and that it subsequently publishes its decision with reasons regarding the exemption of the project.

The EAB said its decision is premised in the recent ruling by “Justice Nareshwar Harnanan in Radzik et al -v- The EPA et al via paragraph 56 — “EPA by Sec.11(2) of the Act is mandated to determine whether the project requires an EIA or not.”

It continued that “The EPA is not in breach of its statutory duty. Furthermore, it is not debarred from relying on information beyond sec.11 of the Act to execute its mandate under sec. 4(1) (a) of the Act — that the EPA shall take every step to make an informed decision and effectively manage the environment.  This is reflected/ confirmed in the recent judgment of Justice Priya Beharry in Radzik et al v The EPA via paragraph 52.- “Parliament intended for the EPA to be armed with as much information as may be required to come to a decision”.

In addition to this, the EAB noted that Environmental Assessment and Management Plan (EAMP) outlines a number of plans to not only enable compliance with statutory requirements, but also address efforts to monitor the effectiveness and relevance of the mitigations in place to address all potential impacts identified by the concerned parties or appellants. The board noted that the appellants’ major concern lay with the radioactive nature of SLB’s activities and also on the treatment of wastewater, and plans in place for addressing fires, flooding, and evacuation.

The EAB said that the company has put in places measures to address the concerns of the appellants. Some of these measures include implementation of: radiation safety training for all employees who may come into proximity with the occupational use of sources of ionizing radiation in SLB facilities or worksites; an air quality management plan that outlines the procedures and performance objectives for monitoring and impact mitigation from suboptimal air quality due to project activities; radiation safety and monitoring plan which provides details and instructions for the safe management of radioactive materials and response mechanisms in the event of an incident; waste and hazardous materials management plan — the type and quantities of hazardous waste generated, the manner of storage, the offsite transfer process, and waste minimization efforts will be recorded in keeping with this plan. Further, the document stated that in support of the EAB’s consideration of the EAMP, an independent review of the document was requested. This review was done by Acorn International Ltd. which found that the EAMP was acceptable and that the safeguards for the proposed activity were adequate.  In light of the abovementioned facts, and the holistic review of the submitted documents, the EAB confirmed the EPA’s decision that an EIA is not required. The board nonetheless made recommendations that should be considered as permit conditions. The recommendations include better stakeholder engagement and baseline monitoring of the project.

The environmental board concluded that it is evident that greater involvement is needed to engage those stakeholders directly affected by the operation or those in close proximity to the facility. As such, SLB should be required to facilitate a community meeting for this specific target audience so that concerns may be ventilated and addressed with available information or amendments to the EAMP’s mitigation and monitoring plans.

Furthermore, it pointed out that the permit should require this activity to be conducted periodically as a means of evaluating the effectiveness of the company’s monitoring and mitigation plan. SLB and the EPA should make information available to the public on what actions are required in the event of an incident/emergency. As it relates to baseline monitoring — the board recommends that the permit should require the conduct of baseline dose monitoring to determine the background radiation levels when no sources are present at the facility.  “This will allow the company to more effectively determines changes in background radiation levels throughout the life of the project. SLB should be required to make publicly available all monitoring data as they become available,” the EAB said.

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• EAB, EIA, EPA, Houston, Radioactive facility

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