The Environmental Assessment Board (EAB) will be conducting a public hearing for an appeal made against the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to not require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the storage of sealed radioactive sources by Non Destructive Testers Limited (Guyana) Inc., at Coverden, East Bank Demerara.
A public notice by the EPA said that the public hearing will be held on September 9, 2021 at 2 pm at its office on Ganges Street, Sophia. It was further stated that the EAB will conduct public hearings into all appeals submitted against the EPA’s decision not to require an EIA for the project.
The hearing will involve representations from the appellants, the developer and other key stakeholders after which the EAB will deliberate on the findings and prepare a report with its decision on whether an EIA should be conducted.
In June, the EPA announced that approval was also given to the Trinidadian company for the storage of a radioactive source at Coverden, also on the East Bank. Residents have since expressed their concern against the EPA’s decision and have written letters of appeal to the agency’s Executive Director.
The Coverden facility is located in the same area that Global Oil Environmental Services (GOES) is hoping to construct a treatment facility for ExxonMobil’s waste under a project that some residents have already questioned.
“The industrial radiography equipment will be securely stored away from the public in a well-designed structure and shielding located more than 200m away from the nearest resident. Only suitably trained and qualified personnel will be allowed access to and use of the equipment,” the EPA said of the project.
In support of ExxonMobil’s offshore works, the company will be using equipment with a radioactive source. Most of the time it is used in offshore logging equipment.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, a sealed radioactive source “is radioactive material that is permanently sealed in a capsule or bonded and in a solid form. The capsule of a sealed radioactive source is designed to prevent the radioactive material from escaping or being released during normal usage and under probable accident conditions.”
