For the second time in three months, leaked fuel ran along a street in Georgetown yesterday; the difference this time being that its origin was known.
Reports reaching Stabroek News are that a fuel tank at the Kingston branch of the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) developed a leak some time between Sunday evening and yesterday morning. The result was that gallons of the fuel spilled out of the compound into the trench and onto the section of Water Street immediately outside the compound. This newspaper was unable to ascertain how much the tank had contained but was informed that it was a sizeable quantity.
When this newspaper visited the area for a second time yesterday afternoon, contracted workers were scooping up the oil from the drains and pouring it into barrels. The workers had also placed sand on the road in an effort to absorb the oil.
When Stabroek News contacted Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green yesterday he told this newspaper that he was out of the country and was unaware of the issue. Efforts to reach Deputy Mayor Robert Williams yesterday for comment proved futile.
Meanwhile, the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has failed to determine the source of the first leak which saw diesel flowing through drains in central Georgetown on February 18.
Gallons of diesel had flowed from a mysterious source through the drains along Croal, Water, America and Longden streets in the vicinity of Stabroek Market. The mysterious leak saw a mad rush by residents to collect the fuel.
Green had told this newspaper on February 25, that the direct source of the diesel leak had still not been determined and he was awaiting a report. More than one month later, in an invited comment on Tuesday last, Green said the M&CC was unable to locate the source of the leak but had determined that the fuel did not originate from a natural source.
Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Doerga Persaud, in an invited comment on February 25 said that the agency had responded to the situation. However, Persaud had advised that M&CC was responsible for investigating the matter and determining the source of the leak.