RADHICA DE SILVA
radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Air quality tests are ongoing at Vessigny after residents complained of feeling unwell following Tuesday's oil spill which contaminated the Vessigny River.
In a statement issued a short while ago, Heritage Petroleum Company Limited said it is currently responding to an incident where oil was observed in the vicinity of the Vessigny River.
"In accordance with its incident response protocols, Heritage immediately directed the lease operator, Trinity Brighton Operations, to suspend pumping and the pipeline was isolated," Heritage said.
Residents and other impacted stakeholders are being engaged, the company added.
"Heritage officials are on-site with stakeholders to share up-to-date information and address the related concerns of those impacted. In keeping with international best practice, vacuum trucks have been mobilized to recover the spilled oil and excavation equipment remain on site to assist with containment and repair works," Heritage said in its statement.
Regulatory bodies including the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, and the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) have been notified of the incident.
Heritage also said it is conducting air quality tests in the area and so far the readings are within normal levels.
On Wednesday morning, residents of Vessigny Reserve Road complained of experiencing nausea and diarrhoea after inhaling fumes from the spill.
Kavina Dickson who lives near the beach said she started smelling oil fumes on Tuesday evening.
"From around 10 pm, the smell started to get stronger. I started to get nauseous and dizzy. We passed the night and I observed they were doing work on the river. this morning I saw fire trucks. Heritage came to us and said don't use any open flame and there is a hydrocarbon release in the river. They said they will provide us with meals but I am still waiting," Dickson said.
Another resident Raphael Ramlal said he started to see oil in the river around 1:30 pm on Tuesday.
"It was a thick amount of oil. I am coughing, the gas smell is making me dizzy. My sister-in-law got sick and she had to move away. This is bad. we could not stay in the house," Ramlal said.
He said he was disappointed that Heritage did not provide meals in the community.
"They had a delayed response. The leak was further up the road," he said. He said his dogs were affected by the oil.
"All of them were black with the oil and we had to wash them out," Ramlal said.
He said the cleanup works were ongoing and the smell of the oil had decreased by mid-morning.