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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
Neighbors say the Sandyport station has been leaking fuel for weeks, leading to the closure of several businesses last week due to overpowering fumes.
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(Statement)
Save The Bays: company should not be allowed to investigate itself; government and Rubis display lack of transparency yet again, despite lessons of Marathon fuel spill disaster
Lamenting the fact that the public had to learn of a second possible fuel leak from a Rubis service station in New Providence via social media, Vanessa Haley-Benjamin called for a fully independent investigation into the complaints of nearby residents and businesses.
Haley-Benjamin, CEO of fast-growing environmental advocacy group Save The Bays (STB) applauded the news that Environmental Remediation and Response Laboratory (EMRAD) is now investigating, but questioned why the government remained tight-lipped until the matter was raised in a Facebook post.
“One would have thought, following the failure on the part of both the government and Rubis to show transparency and adopt best practices with regard to the now notorious Marathon fuel spill, that alerting the public to another possible leak would have been their first move,” Haley-Benjamin said. “Yet it is our understanding the government officials have known about this situation for weeks.
“Perhaps even more concerning is a statement in the press by an unnamed Rubis executive, to the effect that the company has been looking into the Sandyport situation ‘for some time now’. Exactly how long have they known about this possible leak? Did they communicate the complaints to the government immediately and if so, why is the public only just learning of the matter?”
Haley-Benjamin said it appears that both the government and the company have failed to learn lessons from the December 2012 Marathon incident, in which around 24,000 gallons of gasoline leaked into the ground from a Rubis service station on Robinson Road, contaminating the water supply to nearby homes and rendering neighboring offices uninhabitable.
Those affected were kept in the dark for more than two years, despite serious potential consequences for their health and safety through exposure to an extremely hazardous cocktail of chemical compounds. Both the government and Rubis kept their silence until forced to speak when opposition chairman Michael Pintard raised the matter in the Senate.
“The government apologized and promised to be more transparent going forward. Yet here we are just a few months later, facing reports of another possible fuel spill, and again outside pressure was needed to bring the matter to light,” Haley-Benjamin said.
“More generally speaking, considering the serious and ongoing environmental damage caused by petrochemical pollution throughout New Providence and around The Bahamas, it was hoped that our political leaders would consider every potential case to be high priority.
“A critical part of doing so would be ensuring that investigations into possible spills, leaks and other polluting incidents are conducted by credible independent bodies. In this regard, we find it alarming that Rubis is being allowed to conduct its own probe into the Sandyport complaints, EMRAD’s separate review notwithstanding.
“In other jurisdictions around the world, experienced scientists and industry experts with a reputation for thoroughness and objectivity are contracted to conduct such investigations. It is lamentable that in this area, as in so many others pertaining to environmental protection, The Bahamas continues to lag far behind. This case is yet another pointed example of why the country desperately needs a robust Freedom of Information Act to be passed immediately.”
Founded just over two years ago, Save The Bays is a unique grassroots effort to protect ecologically significant areas of The Bahamas from unregulated development. With more than 17,200 followers on Facebook, STB is the fastest growing, most popular non-profit, non-government organization in Bahamas history on social media. The group’s petition calling on the government to enact an Environmental Protection Act, a Freedom of Information Act, stop unregulated development and end to oil pollution is climbing in numbers, with nearly 7,000 signatures so far.
© Copyright 2015 by thebahamasweekly.com
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