From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
Minister Dorsett Parliamentary Clifton Oil Spill Statement
Oct 8, 2014 - 1:20:19 PM
Nassau, Bahamas - The following is Hon.
Kenred Dorsett, Minister
of the Environment and Housing Ministerial Statement to Parliament on the Oil
Spill in Marine Environment, South West
New Providence delivered on October
6th, 2014:
As was recently reported
the
Government is aware of an oil emission which
occurred i
n waters on the south western end of New Providence, near to Stuarts
Cove and Albany.
Initial reports indicate
that on Wednesday of last week, Stuart Cove discovered an extraordinary amount
of fuel in the canal area of their operations and the dive sites they use off
the south-west coast of the island of New Providence. Initial reports also
indicate that Albany also reported fuel in the water and coastline of their
property. On Thursday past it was reported to the
Port Controller that there
was a smell of oil and an oil slick seen in the Clifton area. Certain
members of the National Oil Spill Committee, namely the
Port Department, were
dispatched to investigate the matter whereupon it was reported to the
Controller that no oil slick could be seen in the water in the area reported. A
further report was made to the Port Controller of oil in the water on Saturday
4th October, whereupon a further inspection was conducted. It was then reported
that a boomed-off area at Clifton Pier was full of oil and spilling out of the
boom and that rocks along the coastline and at the marina facility of Stuart
Cove was oiled.
The Minister of Transport
& Aviation and myself
were informed of the on-going incident on
Saturday the 4th October, 2014 as there was another reported release in the
area. Immediately upon being notified, members of th
e National Oil Spill
Advisory Committee inclusive of the
BEST Commission, Department of Environmental Health Services, NEMA, the Port
Department and the Ministry of Transport & Aviation were dispatched to assess the impact of the
oil spill. The assessment revealed that
Albany had closed its beach restricting access to it by its guests. It also
revealed that fuel had "washed" alongside the coastline of Stuart
Cove's operations and entered the canal, where their boats are docked. There was also evidence of oiling along the
coast in the vicinity of the dive operation. The Government immediately engaged
the services of Coastal Systems International Inc., a United States
Environmental Firm to come to the Bahamas as a matter of urgency to:
1
. assist in investigating and confirming
the source/sources of the oil spill ;
2. assess the impact of the oil spill;
3. address the mitigation of this spill;
4. advise on the preparation of an environmental management plan for the
Clifton area; and
5. make remediation
recommendations.
Based on historical reports and inspections of the area, it has
been determined that there are releases at low tide, and the immediate plan is
to review and enhance the containment and recovery strategies presently
employed in Clifton Pier area. This is
being done as matter of urgency.
On the morning of Sunday
5th December the Royal Bahamas Defence Force took members of the
National Oil
Spill Committee along the coastline to inspect the marine environment. I
also inspected the outfalls of the BEC Plant, the BEC containment booms in
Clifton Bay and Stuart Cove on Sunday morning. The BEC containment booms were
not preventing all of the fuel emitted into the marine environment from
spreading. It also appeared that fuel was being discharged from one of the
outfalls. An inspection of Stuart Cove's facilities, revealed evidence of fuel
discharge in their canal, along the coastline and on the bottoms of their
vessels.
This morning at 8:00 am,
two biological environmental engineers from Coastal Systems International
arrived in Nassau. A briefing meeting was held at the Ministry of Works &
Urban Development at 8:30 am this morning for all government stakeholders and
advisors, including officials from BEC. As we speak, the Government's response
team and our environmental consultants are inspecting the relevant properties,
including BEC's Clifton Pier Plant.
We expect to receive a
report from our consultants as quickly as possible and upon receipt and
consideration of the report, the public will be advised of our next steps.
The Clifton area has been plagued with oil spills for decades. This
government established an
inter-Ministerial Working Group to investigate and address this long standing
issue. It will not be business as usual. We are
resolved and committed to address this
vexing problem. All relevant parties and
businesses in the industrial area of Clifton will be engaged in discussion with
the Government as we seek to assess and confirm the source or sources of the
oil spills as well as the extent of the contamination of the properties in the
area, including the Clifton Heritage Park.
There has also been a
sub-committee established within the National Oil Spill Committee. That
sub-committee, together with our environmental consultants will establish
mechanisms in the short term to enhance containment and recovery strategies
as we develop and implement the medium to long term measures which will include
(1) an environmental management plan for the Clifton area; (2) a remediation
plan for the Clifton area including BEC's Clifton Pier plant, which has also
been factored in the current BEC Energy Reform RFP process; (3) a review of
existing operational processes and standards for BEC and other industrial
stakeholders in the Clifton area;
(4) an environmental sensitivity map of
the area; and (5) where deemed appropriate the implementation of new
regulations and standards by BEC and other industrial stakeholders in the
Clifton area to be enforced by the Government.
Mr. Speaker, this problem
did not arise for the first time since we came to office in May 2012. The owner
of Stuart Cove has indicated that he has had to contend with oil spills since
1995. We are all painfully aware that successive administrations have not taken
this matter as seriously as they ought to have done. This administration will
not bury its head in the proverbial sand. We were elected to fix small and big
problems. This is a huge problem which impacts our marine life, tourism and our
environment. The political will to fix it exists in this Government and by the
instruction of the Right Honourable Prime Minister and member for Centreville,
which has already been given, we move with a sense of urgency to do so.
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