0

Oil opponents stoke fears for 122k jobs

* Activists slam explorer's environmental submissions

* Allege spill could hit industries with $7.7bn output

* Urge PM to 'immediately cancel' existing licences

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Environmental activists yesterday warned the Prime Minister more than 122,000 Bahamian jobs could be in jeopardy if imminent oil exploration activities result in any accidental spills or pollution.

The groups behind the Our Islands, Our Future coalition, in a letter to Dr Hubert Minnis that was obtained by Tribune Business, alleged there were numerous deficiencies in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP) submitted by Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC).

With an impact assessment suggesting that $7.7bn, a sum equivalent to 62 percent of The Bahamas' 2018 GDP, could be threatened in a worst-case scenario, Our Islands, Our Future accused BPC of bombarding Bahamians with "meaningless information to make us think they have done their homework" when it has not.

The oil explorer has already obtained the necessary Environmental Authorisation (EA) and all related permits to drill its first exploratory well, which it hopes to begin pre-Christmas 2020 in waters some 80 miles west of Andros close to the Bahamas' maritime boundary with Cuba.

But, while BPC has steadfastly maintained that its environmental submissions are fully compliant with Bahamian law and international standards/best practices, Our Islands, Our Future said an analysis of the EIA and EMP that it commissioned from Dr William J. Rogers, of Omega EnviroSolutions, highlighted at least five areas containing alleged flaws.

The group, whose main participants are the Bahamas Reef Environment Education Foundation (BREEF) and Waterkeepers Bahamas, argued the deficiencies it had identified should be sufficient cause for Dr Minnis to "immediately cancel all existing licenses" for oil exploration - including those of BPC.

Noting that its petition opposing BPC's activities has obtained more than 40,000 signatures, Our Islands, Our Future said it was providing the Government with "important and relevant information" to help it "make the best decision for the future of The Bahamas and its coastal economy, which generates $7.696bn and supports 122,257 jobs".

Casuarina McKinney–Lambert, BREEF's executive director, told Tribune Business that the economic output and jobs data, produced for the coalition through an analysis by Anthony Rogers of Sea Change Economics, related mostly to the potential impacts from any spill on the tourism and fisheries industries.

"Given the current economic situation, we most certainly cannot afford to jeopardise these industries that are important for lives, livelihoods and food security," Mrs McKinney–Lambert told this newspaper. "The risk is too great."

Away from the economic effects, the Our Islands, Our Future coalition mounted a full-scale assault on BPC's environmental studies and submissions in a sign that oil exploration opponents are intensifying their efforts to halt the company's activities with its first exploratory well likely less than two months away.

"BPC is not mitigating their risk, they are not adequately protecting us from an oil disaster, nor are they prepared to respond to one," the group argued, drawing on the assessment carried out by Dr William J. Rogers.

This critcised the EIA for a "lack of cumulative impact analysis", or what it described as the 'one bite-free approach'. "If an EIA only analyses a single project in isolation, it fails to consider or disclose the magnitude of cumulative impacts, which can be severe," Our Islands, Our Future said.

"In this case the EIA is at times referring to a single exploratory well, and at times a series of three exploratory wells, but it completely fails to show how it relates to a full drilling programme that includes production and pumping of oil at multiple locations, as well as storage and transfer of crude oil from producing wells."

The coalition also argued that BPC's submissions did not address how it would mitigate "toxic discharges" of barite and heavy metals that it alleged are associated with water-based drilling and cutting, and would impact the ocean floor.

And it also suggested that the oil spill recovery plan was inadequate, asserting: "This is not acceptable considering the sensitivity and uniqueness of the potentially-impacted habitats and natural resources. There are no plans for oil recovery using oil skimming equipment, nor to utilise oil booming to protect sensitive areas in the event of a spill.

"There is no discussion on how a spill with multi-international implications would be managed, or who would assume 'command' in such an event. BPC has not addressed the response capacities of The Bahamas, Cuba or the exposed parts of the US coastline, nor identified the need for any capacity building in these areas."

Finally, Our Islands, Our Future alleged there was "no discussion of protecting vulnerable, threatened or endangered species, or unique and vulnerable areas" in BPC's submissions. "The EIA and EMP fail to identify irreplaceable, unique and sensitive areas, which oil fate and transport modeling has shown will reach The Bahamas, Cuba and the US under realistic unplanned events (blowouts and spills)," it said.

"There is no discussion of protective booming of sensitive areas or how entities managing those resources would be involved in the response. The EIA and EMP have not addressed the small spill, and catastrophic oil spill, reproductive effects of surface oil on breeding birds (oiling) and the potential impacts of oil inhalation by surfacing sea mammals, many of which are endangered, threatened or vulnerable."

BPC's EIA and EMP, though, have already been approved by the Government as part of the Environmental Authorisation granted earlier this year. The company has repeatedly said it has mitigated all risks associated with its exploratory drilling, including spills and pollution, to an irreducible minimum through its near-13 years in The Bahamas.

Roberta Quant, BPC's environmental scientist, was recently critical of some of the concerns and allegations being voiced, arguing that "fear-based sensationalism should not replace facts and science" when it came to analysing the company's project.

"On a fact-based risk assessment of the science and proposed operations of BPC, the chance of an oil spill would have to be considered extremely minimal," she explained. "That said, 'prevention is better than cure'.

"BPC has thus taken extensive steps to ensure a process that seeks a full protection of marine life and the natural environment through extensive planning, management, experience and use of cutting-edge technology."

Ms Quant said the project had met all standards set by the World Bank and International Finance Corporation, as well as those of the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) and International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP).

That, though, is unlikely to satisfy Our Islands, Our Future and other activist groups. The former warned the Prime Minister: "We cannot afford to put our nation’s future at risk, nor risk our invaluable tourism reputation if we are tied to a devastating accident.

"Your timely decision to stop drilling, along with the voices of over 40,000 individuals from The Bahamas and all over the world who have already signed our petition, will send a clear message that we highly value and intend to protect the essential biodiversity that exists in The Bahamas, which supports our livelihoods and contributes significantly to our Gross Domestic Product.

"Beyond the imminent risk of toxic discharges and oil spills, our nation is unfortunately already one of the 'first and worst' hit by the increasing impacts of global climate change," Our Islands, Our Future added.

"We are already - and will continue to - experience heightening effects of sea level rise, ocean acidification and catastrophic storms of intensifying magnitude. How will we call on others to do their part to protect our atmosphere and oceans that we rely on if we simultaneously approve drilling for oil in our waters?

"We respectfully urge you to invoke your authority to make an urgent decision to cancel existing licenses immediately, disregard any license renewal proposals and place a permanent ban on offshore oil drilling in The Bahamas. Let us be known for pristine waterways and our commitment to a sustainable economy, not dirty fossil fuels or another uncontrolled and costly oil disaster."

Comments

Clamshell 4 years, 1 month ago

Huh? Can any of these people do math? Including Mr. Neil Hartnell? A loss of 122,000 jobs in a nation of just 330,000 people, including the elderly and children? Uh ... huh? There are only 200K jobs in the entire economy.

Look, we’re all for a clean environment, but stupid scare-tactic stories just turn people off. Get real.

Voltaire 4 years, 1 month ago

Nonsense. How many jobs are in the hotel, fishing and dive industry combined? Well then, that is how many will be gone if a Deepwater Horizon accident were to happen here. That slick covered more ocean that then entire square footage of the Bahamas. It cost $65 billion to clean up. And the population is 385,000.

Clamshell 4 years, 1 month ago

I agree that the Bahamas should not be messing with oil exploration. And I’ll yield to your adjustment to the population number. My jobs number is accurate as of 2019, tho.

But the Deepwater Horizon spill, wretched as it was, did not wipe out every job in coastal Louisiana. Pure fact. And we’re talking about an open-ocean area 80 miles west of Andros, not across the bay from Atlantis or downtown Nassau. There’s not much diving or hotel business 80 miles at sea off the west coast of Andros. (Maps are available free, online. Really. You should look at one.)

We’re always better off if we’re dealing with facts rather than frenzies.

Clamshell 4 years, 1 month ago

... also, your claim that the Deepwater Horizon slick covered an area larger than the Bahamas — oceans included — is utterly absurd, a complete and total lie.

Proguing 4 years, 1 month ago

BP paid more than $65 billion in damages:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20…

How much do you think BPC would pay in a similar event?

ColumbusPillow 4 years, 1 month ago

Right on Clamshell So solar and wind power are the real options?. ALL TREES WOULD NEED TO BE CUT DOWN and EVERY SQUARE INCH OF New Providence and Andros would have to be covered by solar panels to meet our power needs. And every 10-12 years the panels would have to be replaced resulting in unbelievable environmental consequences (landfill) Wind power is also not an option because of unreliability and salt air corrosion. NO MORE BIRDS. Citizens please get informed and stop the fear mongering by these activists..

Clamshell 4 years, 1 month ago

I’m all for green tech when and where it make sense ... but you’re right about the massive fields of solar panels that would be needed, not to mention that salt spray cuts their efficiency dramatically.

Less worried about windmills killing birds, which is overstated, they’re having good luck in painting some of the windmill blades, which makes them more visible to the birds. And they actually are pretty reliable and are running offshore globally in a lot of salt-heavy environments.

But scare-mongering doesn’t do any of us any good ... “Boy who cried wolf,” etc.

Voltaire 4 years, 1 month ago

@ColumbusPillow - Perhaps you should take your own advice. Look closely at this deal. Look at the kind of well they propose to drill. Look at the fallout in other places. Look at the cleanup cost. Look at the frequency of spills from this type of well. Look at this company's joke of an EIA. consider the fact that they won't say how much insurance coverage they have. Look at what the deal will supposedly 'benefit' Bahamians... I am afraid you might come to a different conclusion.

moncurcool 4 years, 1 month ago

Could you share what fallout in other places? Of the hundreds of oil drilling sites around the world, what is the fallout percentage? Just curious.

BahamaPundit 4 years, 1 month ago

Also, look at the way The Bahamas has handled major and even minor disasters in the past: horribly!

Bahama7 4 years, 1 month ago

The environmentalists will never listen to the safety measures, equipment and controls put in place to avoid a spill.

This drill could be gaming changing for the Bahamas finances which are in dire shape right now.

ThisIsOurs 4 years, 1 month ago

risk management is about looking at what you would lose should a single speculated event happen and then figuring out if you're willing to gamble. like if someone told you they'd give you a billion dollars if you could throw your first born child from one boat to another over a sea of piranha. Look at the opportunity right? one billion dollars!!!

The problem in the Bahamas is were always willing to sell our souls for a dollar. nothing is priceless to us

we sell the junkanoo museum at the door of the city to the cruise industry now we want sell the city to the Chinese and the waters to BP

JokeyJack 4 years, 1 month ago

Bahama7 - how will it be game changing? I hate to keep repeating myself - but this same kind of environmental article keeps repeating in the headlines, almost weekly. WHAT are the benefits spelled out in the HOA / other agreement with the oil companies? How many pennies on the barrel will the Bahamas get? Will it go into the Consolidated Fund where it may go missing like the VAT? Why not direct deposits to Bahamian NIB accounts?

Why do you environmentalists keep harping on just the environmental impact? What are the oil companies offering? Why don't you believe that is even a valid question to ask what the positive side is? Your are making a one-sided argument. For example, if all we would get is like 5 million dollars per year from this - then that in itself is enough of a reason to outlaw it.

You can't weigh the options of doing or not doing something - if you don't have the things to weigh that go on each side of the scale. Open you eyes. Where is the money in this agreement? If there is any, then where will it go?

ColumbusPillow 4 years, 1 month ago

What global climate change? What sea level rise? What increase in hurricane activity? What about the economic future of the Bahamas?

Voltaire 4 years, 1 month ago

@Bahama7 - Do you, or do you not work for BPC? It is the only subject you ever comment on. I think you are a company troll. Will you please confirm or deny.

Sign in to comment