“The residents don’t want it! We have the power and if we have power, we are not standing for that,” a frustrated resident declared yesterday on behalf of citizens of Houston Gardens, East Bank Demerara and other communities, who held a press conference to argue against a proposal by Nalco Champion Guyana to store large quantities of chemicals at Industrial Site, Ruimveldt.
Representatives from Houston Gardens, Roxanne Burnham Gardens, Shirley Field Ridley Square, Rasville and D’Aguiar Park were among attendees at the press conference, which was held to discuss a proposed chemical plant and other developments which may affect the welfare of those communities. The press conference was held opposite the John Fernandes Ltd. Inland Terminal, at 4055 Industrial Site, Ruimveldt.
As reported in last week’s Sunday Stabroek, international oilfield chemical company Nalco Champion, has applied to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for authorisation to operate a chemical warehouse facility at Ruimveldt Industrial Estate. According to a notice in Stabroek News, Nalco Champion Guyana has submitted an application for an Environmental Authorisation for the operation of a chemical warehousing facility at the John Fernandes Ltd. Inland Terminal and the transportation of chemicals from the Inland Terminal to John Fernandes’ Water Street port for transfer to the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels offshore Guyana.
The facility at the Inland Terminal site will be engaged in the filtration, storage and warehousing of oilfield chemicals to supply the FPSO vessels that will be offshore of Guyana. The proposed operation estimates that 1,493,000 kg of specialty and commodity chemicals will be imported and stored on-site and will occupy 5,000 square metres, with the intention of extending to 20,000 square metres as oil production increases. The notice added that the proposed development of the operation will also involve the construction of office spaces, installation of a laboratory, storage of mechanical equipment and parts and transportation of chemicals, among other activities.
During the press conference, the representatives from the communities mentioned voiced their concerns about the proposed chemical warehouse. “As a cattle farmer in the area and resident of Rasville, I would just like to say that it’s total trash. We don’t need it around here. Guyana is 83,000 square miles and they have a very large area where they can build something like that, so we don’t want that,” Emanuel Bevney stated.
Another resident, Kent Phillips, said that he lived in Roxanne Burnham Gardens for 22 years before he bought a house in Houston Gardens, which he did because it was close to his office and because prior to his purchase of the land, he was told that the area was going to be an upscale development and all he was going to see was houses. In addition, he said that he was told that the land bought by John Fernandes was going to be used for building houses for their staff.
A few years later, he said he noticed the container terminal going up and was informed that since John Fernandes had hundreds of metres left, they would use it for that purpose. “The container terminal was not supposed to be there in the first place. So before anything started it’s a container terminal and now it’s the chemical plant that they are building,” he stated.
Everything you gotta fight for
A frustrated Juliet Julian, on the other hand, lamented, “In Guyana here, everything you gotta fight for, for it to come to some resolution.” She stated that both John Fernandes and the EPA have an idea of what can happen if there is a spill or if chemicals are released into the air. “If these things happen and you don’t have money in these areas, you will be at a disadvantage,” she said, before adding, “We don’t want it and that is it. Story done.”
Another Houston Garden resident, Candida Williams, said that the residents of Houston Gardens and surrounding communities have a number of issues regarding the building of a chemical facility should it be approved. Williams stated that upon realisation that a number of chemicals, including xylene, would be housed at the facility, they came to the conclusion that they don’t know the severities of the risks they will be facing with those chemicals present. Further, she stated that they were informed that a laboratory was also going to be built. “What is the purpose of this lab? Are they mixing chemicals at the lab?” the woman asked.
In addition, she questioned what would happen if chemicals escaped into the atmosphere and how it would affect the children, animals and water system, among others. With regards to that, she stated that Nalco has no “proper emergency plan…All they have is a plan for their employees but they don’t have a plan for their neighbouring environs, so that’s why today we are here. We are humbly requesting that the EPA not permit this particular facility to be built here ’cause it’s going to have some serious environmental impact on our lives,” she ended.
Meanwhile, geotechnical engineer Charles Ceres stated that the Central Housing and Planning Authority, along with the Georgetown City Council’s Engineering Department are permitting the construction of facilities in areas where they have no sense of what impact the facilities would cause on the residents of surrounding areas. “We are seeing development surrounding or within our community of which we have no idea of the impacts they would cause,” he stated.
Ceres said that they had sent two letters to the EPA last June asking them to look at the entirety of the operations occurring in the area and up to now they have not received a response. He said that one of the letters was written after the Nalco advertisement was published, while the other was written registering complaints about the noise level in the area, prior to them finding out about the proposed chemical warehouse.
He revealed that the noise, now more than ever, is causing sleepless nights for some residents. “There are kids here who have to go to school. You won’t show concerns to kids because you interested in making money. Money should not be the sole motive for people to make decisions in Guyana. In their quest to earn money, people in Guyana consider money to be more important than class,” he stated.
Further, Ceres said that if there should be a chemical release, it would not only affect surrounding areas but Georgetown as well. He said that the chemicals which are reportedly to be housed at the warehouse are all carcinogens and the residents are unaware of how much will be stored or how much will be released. “What about those that are going to be transported? They will have to pass through communities in Georgetown. What about if there is a spill on the road or in Albouystown? The people of that community don’t matter?” Ceres questioned.
Ceres revealed that they have requested that the EPA conduct a sectorial environmental assessment, which will examine everything in the communities, especially the cumulative impacts of what Nalco Champion proposes. He said that he is hopeful that the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) will be conducted as soon as possible so they can determine whether or not any kind of development should be taking place in Georgetown. “The Environmental Protection Act of 1992 is very clear and it talks about the development of terms and scope for the projects and development of the terms of scope mandates that they must consult with the stakeholders and incorporate the stakeholders themselves. We have already raised this issue and we have documented it to the EPA. The reality is that the EPA process doesn’t get started until there is a list which is prepared by international recognised experts to undertake this work. The EPA has never prepared such a list so we regard that the entire process as being flawed to begin with,” he said.
According to Ceres, they were given 28 days to make their concerns known and the EPA will reportedly incorporate those concerns into the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment. He revealed that they have already written regarding those concerns. “So I’m saying that to the EPA that I need them to ensure that this is done in accordance with the Act and I need the CHPA to ensure that the planning laws in Guyana are what dictate the developments,” Ceres added.
A resident from D’Aguiar Park related that he was very disappointed with the way the situation was handled. “We went on the website when we saw the ad in the newspaper. There was no developmental plan on the website,” he said. He said that he has “serious economic and business interests” in the matter and went on to say that the situation will not dissolve easily, just because it’s “a few residents” that voiced their concerns.
