The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

A LOCAL activist said the illegal oil dumping in the Barbary Beach area is a “tragedy” and has called for a severe penalty for those responsible.

Although police investigations are continuing, The Tribune has learned the dumped oil in question is possibly refined oil or Bunker C oil, and not the stored crude oil.

This eliminates both Equinor and BORCO as the possible originating source of the oil, the activist said.

“It is a tragedy,” said Joseph Darville, chairman of Save the Bays yesterday. “I am sure that the investigative agencies in this country should be able to tell where it came from, and the penalty should be the severest that can be levied upon the individuals and companies responsible for that.”

On October 21, a video was posted on social media of the oil that was dumped in the Barbary Beach area. Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest, the MP for East Grand Bahama, condemned the act, and said that police investigations will be conducted to bring those to justice.

Mr Darville, along with Rashema Ingraham, executive director of Waterkeepers Bahamas, visited the site after learning of the incident and viewing the video.

He reported the oil was three inches thick on the ground and had destroyed many of the palmetto (thatch) palms in the forest area, near the roadside.

He also noted that it had already started to seep into the ground, and estimated that it could have been dumped at least two weeks before its discovery at Elton Road.

“For that to be done to our environment made me sick when I saw the video,” Mr Darville said. “I could not watch all of it because I could not believe that any sane Bahamian would take such recourse to dump that on our sensitive environment.”

He explained that the palmetto palms in the pine forest can survive almost anything – the salt water and even fire, but not oil.

“The palmetto palms have died where the oil was dumped. They can endure saltwater, fires – everything, but oil kills them. These palms are exceedingly important for feeding our birds,” Mr Darville explained.

The activist said that oil does not evaporate and will continuously seep into the ground and eventually into the water table.

Supt Terecita Pinder said police have collected samples of the oil that will assist them with their investigation and track down those responsible. She said police are still awaiting results on what type of oil it is.

While at the site, Mr Darville said that he was informed by two knowledgeable individuals that it was refined oil, and not the stored oil.

“The initial assumption was that it came from Equinor, but then, fortunately, some guys who came out there knew something about oil and checked it and smelled it, and said it is refined oil or Bunker C oil. So, it could not have come from Equinor.”

Mr Darville noted that Bunker C oil is fuel either used by ships or by big machinery, and big companies.

“There are only a limited number of those venues on the island, so it shouldn’t be difficult for them to find out exactly where that stuff came from,” he said.

“We had determined based on information we received that it did not come from BORCO or Equinor; it (allegedly) came from companies that have an excess of leftover oil and wanted to get rid of it. And it had been sitting there after being dumped for at least two weeks, according to information we received,” Mr Darville said.

The Save the Bays chairman explained that there is a procedure for the disposal of such large quantities of oil.

Mr Darville - who had worked eight years at the GB Shipyard – noted that whenever any leftover oil is taken from ships during the cleaning of tanks it had to be documented by security, and the environmental department of the exact amount and whether it was used oil or in tanks.

“That had to be documented to the extent that the environment department had to know the route that the truck would take to go to the landfill at Sanitation Services, which is the only place on GB that has a reservoir to receive oil from the different companies; they have a lining on the ground that is impermeable, and they recycle it,” he said.

He noted that when the truck carrying the oil arrives at the Sanitation Services landfill, Sanitation calls and informs the company of its arrival and weighs the truck to ensure the correct amount of oil was delivered.

Mr Darville noted that at one time the trucks were followed to the landfill to make certain they arrived with the oil for proper disposal.

The company, he said, would have to pay for the service and would have to receive communication or confirmation from the landfill that the oil had arrived there.

“So, (if this is the case with this incident), it means some conniving was going on between whoever was given permission to dump this and the company who provided it for dumping because the company should have known from the landfill that what they expedited from the company actually arrived at the landfill.

“There is no mystery here, and I would say both the originating company and whoever was asked or contracted to dispose of it were both at fault because communication broke down somewhere.

“When you are disposing of hazardous material… there are procedures and they have to follow and document when it is leaving when it arrives, and the quantity, and so forth.

“Those bags probably hold 500 gallons of oil and they had to be lifted by a forklift onto whatever truck for transport. There should be no difficulty for the investigative powers to find out exactly the origins of that oil,” said Mr Darville.