(Trinidad Express) With a national effort, combined teams in Tobago have been able to contain the oil spill emanating from the Gulfstream vessel.
This from Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) director Allan Stewart, as he spoke to the Sunday Express yesterday.
“While we were not able to cap the flow of oil coming from the vessel as the turbulence was too much, what we were able to do is to contain the flow around the vessel so the booms that were deployed, they were able to do that, and we are very grateful for that because that means it will slow down the impact of things coming to shore and impacting our ecosystem,” Stewart said.
The oil spill was observed on Wednesday morning coming from the overturned Gulfstream vessel off Canoe Bay.
Stewart said Tobago remains at Tier Two disaster status at this time.
“Based on the information that we have and the resources that have been made available through the national effort, we are still at Tier Two,” Stewart said.
Additional resources have been brought into the operation, he noted.
“Critical resources arrived on the Cabo Star overnight, additional containment booms, and this would bring the ability to make certain areas contained or create the barriers that are so needed to protect certain sensitive areas on the Caribbean Sea,” Stewart said.
The team is coming closer towards properly identifying the vessel, he said.
“Certain samples were taken (yesterday) for additional testing by the relevant authorities and we would continue to work towards cleaning up,” Stewart said.
