Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) has remained silent on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) review of its entire operations at Diamond, East Bank Demerara.
The review of the company’s operations is viewed as a matter of great concern since the EPA said the company appears to have violated environmental laws.
Stabroek News repeatedly sought a comment from company spokesman Alex Graham, of Tagman Media, who on one occasion promised to issue a statement on the situation but to date there has been no response. On other occasions he was not accessible as calls went unanswered or his phone was turned off.
The EPA embarked on the review on Monday.
According to the EPA head Dr Vincent Adams, the company has made several applications for permission to operate. Before any permits are granted, Adams said the company will have to provide the necessary documentation for review by his officers.
The documents were submitted on Friday, paving the way for the review of the company’s operation.
The review comes in the wake of residents’ complaints that they are being negatively affected by the operation of the beverage giant‘s biomethanation plant and alleged environmental infringements.
Residents of Great Diamond had filed a complaint with the EPA after years of their yards and roadways being continuously swamped by wastewater released from the biomethanation plant. As a result, the EPA recently ordered that the plant cease operation.
During a visit to the site and the affected community last Monday, Adams noted that the company has been sending waste openly into the canals.
“I will be sending in an entire team of environmental officers to review the entire operations over and beyond the biodigester, over at the operation of the distillery and everything. I noticed they are also sending waste openly into the canals, so there are a lot of infringements as far as environmental practices are concerned,” he said.
“My officers are going to review it and then the EPA team will be out here looking at every corner of this operation, from top to bottom, making comparison with what they see in the diagram to make sure that it is functioning before we issue any permits,” Adams stated.
In seeking to bring relief to residents whose homes are affected, the company has distributed sand, which is spread in their yard to absorb the wastewater.
Graham previously told Stabroek News that the issue was caused by an extremely high tide that caused flooded residents’ properties, the DDL compound and the public road.
He said when the water began to recede, it carried some of the treated wastewater onto the residents’ premises.
Graham said the residents complained to the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), which subsequently called in the EPA. He said DDL was not aware of the EPA’s involvement until it was called to a meeting.
