Justice Nareshwar Harnanan this afternoon ordered the quashing by certiorari of an environmental permit issued by the EPA on 9th June, 2021 in favour of Schlumberger permitting Schlumberger to construct a radioactive substances and materials storage and calibration facility at lot 1 Area X Houston on the East Bank of Demerara.
The High Court judge also declared that the decision of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to not conduct an environmental impact assessment into the effects of the construction of the facility was illegal, ultra vires, unreasonable, irrational for breaching the Environmental Protection Act, Cap.20:05.
Justice Harnanan also granted an injunction against Schlumberger ordering it to refrain from continuing the possession, use and storage of radioactive materials at its Houston facility unless and until it can obtain a lawful permit under the EPA Act.
This came after attorneys-at-law – Siand Dhurjon, Ronald Burch-Smith and Malene Alleyne – on 14th February, 2022 launched a lawsuit on behalf of three environmental activists and residents who live nearby the radioactive facility: Vanda Radzik, Danuta Radzik and Raphael Singh. The lawsuit named and sued the EPA, the Environmental Assessment Board and Schlumberger Guyana Inc.
Schlumberger was represented by law office Hughes, Fields and Stoby, the EPA was represented by Shareefah Parks and Frances Carryl.
The decision against the major ExxonMobil subcontractor is seen as a big win for citizens.
On July 25th this year, Houston residents were told that Schlumberger Guyana Inc could not go back in time to conduct an impact survey for its storage and calibration facility with radioactive sources as the process for an Environmental Assessment and Management Plan (EAMP) had now gotten underway.
“Unfortunately, we cannot go back in time to conduct an EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) …,” said a representative of IMEX Environmental Service, the consultant hired to conduct the process for Schlumberger. The statement came in response to residents’ demands for an EIA.
Schlumberger, one of ExxonMobil’s major sub-contractors has constructed a source storage and calibration facility at Lot 1 Area X Houston. In a notice to the public in April, the EPA had announced that it had screened the project and assessed the potential environmental impacts, and it was determined that the project would not significantly affect the environment or human health and was therefore exempt from the requirement for an EIA.
While the notice did not state that an EAMP would be required, Schlumberger started the process on July 25th – after the construction of the facility – much to the consternation of the residents of Houston, East Bank Demerara who told the company that they only heard that it would be conducted a few days prior, leaving many concerned residents unable to attend.
At the public scoping meeting on July 25th, Vanda Radzik, told consultants IMEX and representatives of Schlumberger, that the EAMP has begun as a very flawed process as they had failed to do proper advertising that they would be conducting an EAMP. Even the EPA’s advertisement of the project in April, she said, did not mention that radioactive sources will be at the facility.
Noting that Schlumberger stated that this is phase three of their operations, Radzik, pointed out that residents were not even consulted about a Phase one which is well underway if a Phase three is beginning.
“So, everything going on at Schlumberger is unlawful and illegal…. At no point has there been any consultations,” Radzik declared.
She called for an EIA to be done, noting that facilities like that of Schlumberger’s are not permitted to be near residential areas or water sources – two factors that seem not to matter to the EPA as they are in proximity to the facility.
In response, a representative of Schlumberger argued that their operations were not illegal and that they have all the necessary approvals and permits. He noted that conducting an EAMP would require feedback from the public and while the facility is already there, the hearings will ensure that Schlumberger is operating in a sustainable manner.
“I understand that this engagement [is being} done later that it should’ve been, but it is something we have to have to do,” he said.
He noted that for these types of projects an EIA is rarely required.