The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A human rights activist claims that Bahamians working to clean up the oil spill at the Equinor facility in Grand Bahama are not being provided with the proper hazmat gear as the foreign crew, leaving them exposed to dangerous toxic chemicals.

Joseph Darville, vice president of Rights Bahamas, believes that those Bahamians are in "grave danger" as it relates to their health and safety, and called on the powers that be to ensure they are provided the proper tools to safely perform their jobs.

He claims that a worker overcome by the "toxic fumes" had reportedly passed out while working at the site.

However, during a media tour of the facility by company officials last Friday, response experts claim that they are not seeing any btex compounds - benzene, toluene, ethyl, or xylene; that no actionable levels were detected to require respiratory protection. They reported that they are detecting low levels of VOCs (volatile organic compounds).

Officials reported that some 250 local and international response crews are onsite cleaning up the spill that occurred a month ago when Hurricane Dorian hung over the island for some 40 hours.

In a statement issued by Rights Bahamas, Mr Darville said: "It has come to our attention that several Bahamians are currently undertaking the difficult and hazardous task of cleaning up the large terrestrial oil slick that leaked from Norwegian-owned Equinor facility in Grand Bahama during Hurricane Dorian, without having been provided any protective gear whatsoever."

"I have been to the site on several occasions in the past week and have seen Bahamians working in normal civilian clothes and covered with contaminating substances. It is difficult to overstate the grave danger to their health and safety that this poses.

"I am told that one man already passed out from the toxic fumes while working, and only afterwards was given a HAZMAT suit. Meanwhile, the foreign experts brought in by Equinor have been seen touring the site in full protective gear. This is rank elitism and discrimination," he said.

Mr Darville indicated that Bahamians are desperate for work on the hurricane-ravaged island where there is absolutely no jobs to be found, and are now "forced to risk their lives in this dangerous undertaking."

He stressed that absolutely every precaution should be taken to protect their well-being.

"Instead, it seems that they are considered unimportant, expendable, their lives worthless than the cost of a plastic safety suit," he said.

"What is happening is an absolute disgrace and I cry shame on the company, the government, or whoever else may be responsible for overseeing this clean-up operation. It is incredible that in this day and age, Bahamians can still be treated like colonial castoffs, as if they were less than human - it is worse than even slaves would be treated really."

Mr Darville has been very outspoken about the pollution by industrial companies in Grand Bahama, particularly during the 1980s.

He claims: "Grand Bahama has a dubious recent history of foreign industrial companies exploiting our favourable tax and duty-free status, ravaging the land and poisoning the people."

"In the 1980s as an educator, I campaigned relentlessly for the relocation of several schools located near industrial plants because the children were becoming seriously ill. Today, more than a dozen of the 98 students from the 1982 class have died," he said.

He warned that the effects of industrial pollution, of toxic substances like benzene found in petroleum products sometimes are not felt for years.

Mr Darville said that exposure can lead to devastating health issues in the short, medium or long term.

"We are talking about life threatening breathing problems, severe deformities in newborns and an array of aggressive cancers, among many others," he said.

Rights Bahamas calls for an immediate halt to this madness. Our people cannot be made to clean up the noxious spill for which others bear the responsibility, with no protection for themselves. Give our people the tools they need to do the job in safety, or find someone else to do your dirty work," he said.