Elizabeth Gonzales
There is no hydrocarbon leak at the Studley Park dump. Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) director Allan Stewart and Deputy Chief Secretary Dr Faith B Yisrael confirmed this yesterday, denying media reports of an environmental hazard caused by alleged improper disposal of the waste collected during the February 7 oil spill.
Their response comes following a report on Sunday on concerns of the storage of the oil and possible threats to the environment and its surrounding communities.
But following a surveillance flight yesterday, TEMA told Guardian Media there was no leak, or seepage or any other threat detected.
Stewart said the baseline recommended and approved by the EMA had not been compromised.
He reiterated the location was only a temporary storage site until a disposal plan is sorted out.
Stewart said, “There is nothing to be concerned about, as the immediate plan they put in place, it’s still at work. They dug these pits, had them lined with plastic and they are carrying out their function.
“As it is right now there is no danger. I understand the barrier built around it with dirt is still intact and the oil is not breached.”
A source told Guardian Media while the lining—placed to prevent the waste from seeping in the soil—may have shifted due to length, the bunker fuel’s storage hasn’t been compromised.
However, the longer it’s stored there the greater the possibility of an environmental threat becomes.
Meanwhile, the deputy chief secretary said chief secretary Farley Augustine was aware of the reports and would decide the next best step regarding his response.
Although the site has been cleared of hazards by the Tobago House of Assembly, Progressive Democratic Patriots political leader Watson Duke wants the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) to intervene.
Duke said, “I’m calling upon the EMA in Tobago to initiate legal proceedings and its subsidies and its agents for not following the rule of law. I’m calling on the RMA to do the right thing. The law not good for one and not good for the other.”
Duke condemned the EMA for not taking the lead in this sort of waste storage, leaving Tobago to struggle with its future disposal.
In August, Augustine told Guardian Media for months he had been concerned that emergency funds might be delayed throughout the rainy season as the THA awaits the resources to properly dispose of the waste.
At that time, he said he hoped the rains would not cause the containment cells to overflow.