ExxonM eyes GYSBI, other private spaces to dump waste

May 02, 2024 ExxonMobil, News, Oil & Gas

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Kaieteur News – The Guyana Shorebase Inc (GYSBI), is being looked at as an alternative site for the dumping of its waste as it ramps up production in the Stabroek Block.

This comes at a time when the Haags Bosch Landfill is quickly running out of space to store refuse. In the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the sixth oil project it was noted that at present the GYSBI site has already been identified as an emergency dumpsite should there be any problems affecting the operations at HBL.

Environmental and Technical Solutions (ETS) and Sustainable Environmental Solutions Guyana, Inc. (SES), located at the GYSBI facility, are currently the primary providers of hazardous and non-hazardous waste treatment services in Guyana. Both facilities employ a variety of waste treatment technologies (sorting/segregation of recyclables, physical/chemical/ thermal treatment of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes), discharge treated fluids as permitted to the Demerara River, and send treated non-hazardous solid waste as well as other wastes received (including general waste, paper/cardboard, and scrap wood) to the HBL.

According to the Company, The GYSBI Annex Plot 4 site is located on the east side of East Bank Public Road, approximately one km southeast of the GYSBI entrance and encompasses an area of approximately 40,000 square meters and “this area could be used for the emergency storage of up to 1,000 tonnes (at a minimum) of treated nonhazardous waste pending the resumption of routine HBL operations.”

According to the EIA, at present all non-hazardous wastes managed at ETS and SES are currently stored at the respective facilities pending offsite transfer to the HBL for final disposal.

Waste is currently transported to the HBL once a complete truckload of waste has accumulated. However, both these facilities have very limited space available for non-hazardous waste storage.  “Therefore, any unplanned shutdown or operational challenges at the HBL could disrupt operations.”

To this end, EMGL has developed a contingency option that identifies an additional location (GYSBI Annex Plot 4) that can be used for emergency storage of solid (no-free liquid) treated non-hazardous waste in the event of an unplanned shutdown or operational challenges at the HBL—meaning the landfill cannot accept wastes because of weather or other operational challenges. GYSBI currently operates a steel pipe warehouse, storage, and handling operation at its Annex location that involves the washing of virgin steel pipe prior to transfer to the wharf and loading onto the vessels for offshore transit.

It was acknowledged in that the viability of its operations depends on sufficient waste management infrastructure and as such in recognition of the potential future capacity constraints and impacts on non-Project users of this infrastructure, the Project has initiated a number of mitigation measures:

To this end it was noted that as warranted, based on anticipated future Exxon Mobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) hazardous waste generation trends and trends in non-EMGL hazardous waste generation, continue supporting the expansion of existing local waste management capacity for hazardous wastes, and explore use of new local hazardous waste treatment facilities, or identify suitable alternative solutions.

The company said too it would also continue monitoring of plans for further expansion of the HBL and/or (if approved by the EPA) construction of additional landfill sites in other locations (as decided by the government) or identify suitable alternative (interim) local solutions for non-hazardous waste management.”

Additionally, the EIA concedes that for those wastes transported onshore, there are a limited number of facilities for the treatment of hazardous and industrial waste in Guyana, although the construction and proposal of additional such facilities are growing commensurate with the planned expansion of oil and gas activities.

The HBL is the only engineered sanitary landfill in Guyana and started operations in early 2011 and is 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 between Mahaica, the Seawall, Timehri, and Parika.

All non-hazardous solid wastes generated to date from EMGL’s projects have been disposed of at the HBL. 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.

With this in mind, EMGL noted that planned Project activities could impact waste management infrastructure capacity for current users of Georgetown-based waste treatment facilities since “EMGL and other oil and gas operators are the primary users of hazardous waste management facilities. 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.

According to EMGL, in addition to ETS and SES, several other private waste management facilities have come online or are expected to come online in the near-term for hazardous and non-hazardous waste treatment.

These include the following Eternity Investment Inc., (EII)—a scrap metal consolidation and exporting facility that also accepts and manages lead acid batteries and electronic waste. The main scrap yard for the facility is located in a sparsely developed area of Madewini near the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

The company receives non-ferrous (including lead acid batteries), ferrous, and electronic waste scrap, and then sorts and consolidates these materials. EII receives scrap metal from throughout Guyana.

Additionally, the EIA noted that Avinash Contracting & Scrap Metal is a scrap metal consolidation and exporting facility and is authorized by the EPA to manage scrap metal.

This in addition to Oilfield Waste Management Services (OWMS) submitted a permit application to the EPA in 2020 for the construction of a 5,000 square meters drilling waste processing plant in the Little Diamond East Bank Demerara area located approximately 5 kilometers south of GYSBI.  OWMS will, EMGL said will employ thermal desorption separator technology to treat drilling muds. Oil and water recovered from the process are proposed to be recycled in the formulation of new drilling muds, and the solids are proposed to be used in the bitumen manufacturing process or sent to the HBL.

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• dumpsite, emergency, Environmental Impact Assessment, GYSBI, Stabroek Block

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