Exile, unnu nuh need some Jamaicans to help clean

[Mosiah]

up that oil spill in T&T? Yuh woulda see how fast wi bokkle dat and sell it to rah!

[Exile]

Lol...its a serious spill but being downplayed...sad really...

[Mosiah]

Sad to see. Does T&T have experience with such things?

[Historian]

Yes, It is Affecting More Than We Realize

Lol...its a serious spill but being downplayed...sad really...

I agree with you about the seriousness, boss. Also, the downplaying comes as no surprise; very often, unfortunately, countries and companies across the world try to downplay the magnitude of disasters.

Source: The Trinidad Express, Wednesday, December 25, 2013
(http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/...237204891.html )

Christmas ban on cooking
Residents upset at ruined holiday told to avoid open flames

By Sue-Ann Wayow sue-ann.wayow@trinidadexpress.com
Story Created: Dec 24, 2013 at 9:46 PM ECT
Story Updated: Dec 25, 2013 at 4:46 AM ECT

Residents living in homes hugging the oil-blackened shoreline in La Brea cannot cook a Christmas meal today.

They have been banned indefinitely from using open flames.

Instead, families living in 28 homes will be relying on the three boxed meals being provided daily by State-owned Petrotrin.

A massive oil spill originating from one of the company’s offshore facilities began drifting ashore in La Brea last Wednesday.

A major clean-up effort is now underway, involving some residents who have benefited from the tragedy.

They are being paid $50 an hour to work 12-hour shifts, cleaning fishing boats and shovelling and soaking up oil from the beachfront at Coffee Beach, Carat Shed and Queens Beach.

However, many said no amount of money could compensate for the lost Christmas.

Resident Oneca Branker-Showers, 29, said, “Christmas is ruined. I did nothing. I did not paint or clean or go shopping. I didn’t want to do any of this because next thing, they come tomorrow and say we have to move out.”

Errol Lee, 76, who lives near the shore with his wife, Agnes Bernard-Lee, said: “This is the first time I am seeing such an oil spill. I have lived here for 31 years and I have seen nothing like it before.”

He said the strong scent coming from the oil was causing his eyes to burn, and he has been using medication to prevent coughs since the spill began. Since Lee is a pensioner, he was not asked to work on the clean-up.

Grandmother of 12 Cynthia Bab*oi wept, telling the Express since her son could not go out to sea to work, there was no money to purchase groceries or gifts for the children.

Baboi, 49, said the oil was not only coating the beaches but had also entered the mangrove where no cleaning was taking place.

Shevon Showers, a construction worker, has been hired as part of the clean-up crew. He is employed with Tiger Tanks Trinidad Ltd, one of the contractors involved in the exercise.

He said there were two 12-hour shifts, around the clock, at $50 per hour. He said working in the night was better because the fumes were not as strong.
“When the sun is out, the vapour gives off a strong scent. When you are inhaling it, you feel as if there is something in your throat,” he said.

But Showers said Petrotrin was being co-operative providing breakfast, lunch and dinner for all residents because they were not allowed to cook. He said hampers were also provided. He suggested residents be relocated temporarily to State-owned homes until the oil was cleaned up.

Showers said Christmas celebrations this year would not be the same.
“This whole thing upset Christmas plans. Nobody could bake. Nobody could cook and do the usual things that families would be doing around this time. This is affecting the area and all who will be coming here.”

Resident Marie Green said everybody usually would be liming and bathing on the beach for Christmas, but this year, there will be none of that.

Fishermen are also feeling the brunt of the oil spill.

Kenny Rampersad, a fisherman from Aripero whose boat remains covered in oil, said they had no fish to sell for days and that meant no extra money for Christmas.

He said: “Right now, we have no*thing. My boat will take a long while to clean and when it is cleaned, I will have to fish in another area because the fish will be contaminated here.”

Fisherman Madan Rambharose said because of the spill, he had no mo**ney to purchase groceries, or the gifts his family wanted for Christmas.

Some residents complained not enough persons from the com*mu*-
nity were getting jobs with the clean-up operations, and those who were getting were ones not directly affected by the oil spill.

Member of Parliament for La Brea Fitzgerald Jeffrey, who visited the area yesterday, said emergency relief was needed by those affected.

“One, they need immediate relocation. The scent here is really strong. Two, they need security here to secure the premises of the residents, and three, they should get some sort of financial compensation.”

He said not only the fishermen benefited from their daily catch but also residents who would assist them. He said the entire neighbourhood was affected.

“The residents are innocent. I don’t think they should suffer because of the oil spill.”

Jeffrey said the cause of the oil spill should be thoroughly investigated.

[Exile]

I think par for the course, as most oil companies do, is to use dispersant which will quickly lessen the visual impact - of course we now know that some dispersants are 50 times more toxic than the oil itself and have serious long term or chronic effects on all aquatic life.

I use to be Environmental Incident Coordinator for years in an earlier dispensation that dealt with these issues...here is their report:
IMA report



Story Created: Dec 24, 2013 at 9:48 PM ECT
Story Updated: Dec 24, 2013 at 11:06 PM ECT

Institute of Marine Affairs preliminary report on the investigation and fingerprint analysis of the oil spill in the Gulf of Paria.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On Wednesday December 18, 2013, the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) responded to a report of an oil spill in the coastal waters off Pointe-a-Pierre. The Institute was informed that on Tuesday, December 17, a leaking pipeline at Petrotrin accidentally spilled approximately 7,000 gallons of fuel oil into the Gulf off the Pointe-a-Pierre jetty. The institute responded immediately to the notification and surveyed the area off San Fernando Wharf. The inspection revealed no visible impacts at the shoreline in San Fernando—an observation that was confirmed by the fisherfolk in the area.
Subsequent to the investigation at San Fernando, the IMA received reports of two additional oil spills in South Trinidad: the first at La Brea and the other at Chatham. These reports were provided to the IMA by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management and the Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs and the IMA responded to the notifications on Thursday, December 19 and Friday, December 20, respectively.
Surveys were conducted at both sites and the investigation revealed that the Beach area at La Brea, commonly referred to as “Carrat Shed Beach”, “Station Beach’ and the shoreline of LABIDCO Industrial estate were severely impacted by a thick, black layer of oil. A total of five samples of oil were taken at the La Brea site for fingerprinting analysis by the IMA. The IMA also requested a sample of oil from the source of the spill site at Petrotrin, Pointe-a-Pierre through the Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs for comparative analysis. Petrotrin’s Environmental Health and Safety Division provided the sample in duplicate.
Staff at Petrotrin’s Pointe-a-Pierre operations also provided the IMA with a sample of oil taken at the old Jetty, Carrat Shed Beach, La Brea on Wednesday, December 17 2013.
On Friday, December 20, 2013, the IMA conducted a survey of Granville Beach and collected two samples from the beach area and four additional samples from a barge moored at the LABIDCO Industrial estate for oil fingerprinting analysis.
Fingerprinting analyses of the oil samples were performed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The samples were analysed for aliphatic (n-alkanes) hydrocarbons and the aliphatic profile used identify the sample.
Analysis of the aliphatic(n-alkanes) hydrocarbonchromatograms of the source oil sample from Petrotrin, Pointe-a-Pierre indicated that the oil was a Bunker “C” type fuel oil.
Analysis of the oil samples collected by IMA on Thursday, December 19 at the oil impacted areas of La Brea indicated the oil was also a Bunker “C” typeoil and not crude oil in origin. Similarly, the sample of oil taken on December 17 at the Jetty area of “Carrat Shed beach” La Brea and provided to the IMA by Petrotrin was found to be a Bunker “C” type oil and similar in characteristics to the oil samples collected by IMA on the shoreline at La Brea on Thursday 19 December, 2013. Fingerprinting analysis of the samples collected at Granville Beach showed the sample to be of type of Bunker “C” oil and not crude oil in origin and an analysis of the four samples of oil collected at the vessel at the LABIDCO indicated that these samples were similar in type to diesel oil or fuel oil #2.e in origin.
The results of the fingerprinting analysis indicate that the samples collected at La Brea and Grande Ville are Bunker “C” type fuel oil in origin and the four samples collected from the barge moored at LABDICO were diesel oil or fuel oil #2.e in origin.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
• IMA surveyed the area at San Fernando on Wednesday 18 December and confirmed that that there was no oil impact at the shoreline.
• Analysis of the aliphatic (n-alkanes) hydrocarbon chromatograms of the source oil sample from Petrotrin, Pointe-a- Pierre indicated that the fuel oil was a Bunker “C” type fuel oil.
• Analysis of the oil samples collected by IMA on Thursday 19 December at the oil impacted areas of La Brea indicated that the type of oil was also a Bunker “C” type oil and not crude oil.
• The sample of oil collected by Petrotrin on the December 18 at the Jetty area of “Carrat Shed beach” La Brea was found to be a Bunker “C” type oil and was similar to the oil samples collected by IMA on the shoreline at La Brea.
• Analysis of the oil samples collected by IMA on Thursday 19 December at the oil impacted areas of Grande Ville indicated that the type of oil was also a Bunker “C” type oil and not crude oil.
• Analysis of samples obtained from the barge at LABDICO indicated that the fuel contained was diesel oil which is known as fuels oil #2.
• The results of the fingerprinting analysis indicate a strong resemblance between the samples of oil found at La Brea and Granville and the oil at the spill site at Petrotrin Pointe-a-Pierre which suggest a link between these samples.


and the NEwspaper reponse:
‘It’s bunker fuel’

IMA finds ‘missing link’...

By Anna Ramdass anna.ramdass@trinidadexpress.com


Story Created: Dec 24, 2013 at 9:49 PM ECT
Story Updated: Dec 24, 2013 at 11:06 PM ECT

Thousands of barrels of bunker fuel were somehow released from Petrotrin’s storage facilities in Pointe-a-Pierre which resulted in the entire South coast of the country being polluted, a report compiled by the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) has stated.

The IMA conducted an investigation and fingerprinting analysis of the oil spills that impacted the Gulf of Paria during the past week and found that it was not crude oil but bunker fuel which is mainly used on ships and refineries.
A Government source told the Express yesterday that the “missing link” has been found as to what type of substance was polluting the waters and where it came from.
The mystery now, said the source, is how thousands of barrels of bunker fuel found its way into the oceans and who or what caused this.
The source said sabotage was still likely in the case of Rancho Quemado where special tools were required to open the valves.
“The source of this spill has been scientifically established beyond doubt and by sampling it is the same fuel in Granville, La Brea, Carrat Shed and at Pointe-a-Pierre,” said the source.
“The probe will have to take place with respect to the land base allegations of sabotage because it required specialist equipment to open the valves,” the source added.
“We have established the fingerprint of the oil spill fuel but we have not established how the oil came to spill, that is a matter which will have to be independently investigated,” said the source.
Cabinet on Thursday appointed Minister of the Environment and Water Resources Ganga Singh as chairman of a committee along with Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine and National Security Minister Gary Griffith to oversee an investigation into the oil spill.
A technical committee was established comprising Prof John Agard, Andrew Jupiter, Dr Allan Bachan, head of the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and Dr Indar Ramnarine, chairman of the Institute of Marine Affairs.
The IMA team, which conducted the scientific analysis on the spill samples was led by Darryl Banjoo and comprised members Wendy Nelson, Shane Ramsammy, Kyle Williams and Malini Ramlal.
The Express obtained a copy of the preliminary report which stated that the results of the fingerprinting analysis indicate a strong resemblance between the samples of oil found at La Brea and Granville and the oil at the spill site at Petrotrin Pointe-a-Pierre which suggest a link between these samples.
IMA chairman Dr Indar Ramnarine told the Express that bunker fuel was crude oil minus gasoline and kerosene.
He said this type of fuel will have the same negative impact on the environment as crude oil.
Ramnarine said sea currents would have pushed the fuel from Pointe-a-Pierre to La Brea and Cedros affecting the coast.
The Rancho Quemado case, he said, might be crude oil as it was land based where the valves were deliberately opened.
He said a team from the IMA on Friday, will do a detailed survey of the coastline from Chatham to Pointe-a- Pierre and will study the impact of the spill on the marine life including plants such as sea grass and mangrove.
Ramnarine said a forensic analysis will be required to determine whether the spillage from Petrotrin’s storage facilities was deliberate or carelessness.

[Exile]

Keep wary eye out for Corexit



Story Created: Dec 23, 2013 at 8:09 PM ECT
Story Updated: Dec 23, 2013 at 8:09 PM ECT

Dear T&T, please be advised that we must be vigilant on how the oil spill clean-up is handled, since we have now invited a foreign company/companies to deal with it.

During the 2010 Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a product called Corexit (which is a line of dispersants) was used to dissolve the oil spill. It is stated in a Newsweek investigative report, that Corexit further aided those responsible for the spill by dispersing the spill so well that it hid the true magnitude of the disaster.
We must be vigilant that Corexit is not used in T&T’s clean-up efforts. The following can be found on Wikipedia, and for those of you who don’t trust that site, please see the Newsweek article, where the following information is also stated:
• In 2012, a study found that Corexit increases the toxicity of oil by 52 times.
• Corexit 9580 was used during the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster in Alaska. Corexit EC9500A and Corexit EC9527A were used during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The use of Corexit is approved in the US by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This decision was called into question in 2013 following a report by the Government Accountability Project alleging “devastating long-term effects on human health and the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem” stemming from the use of Corexit.
Corexit has been banned for use on oil spills in the UK since 1988. UK authorities have an approved list of products which must pass both “sea/beach” and “rocky shore” laboratory toxicity tests; Corexit did not pass the rocky shore test. Sweden has also banned its use.
If you’re interested please read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corexit
http://www.newsweek.com/what-bp-does...lf-spill-63015.
Deborah Maillard

[Mosiah]

Sandals should host all those affected for a week! That would go a long way to chill the current impasse between Ja and T&T.

[Exile]

The thing about is that this area is well known for their Grenadian heritage...

[Historian]

Re: Sandals

Sandals should host all those affected for a week! That would go a long way to chill the current impasse between Ja and T&T.

And speaking of Sandals hosting disaster-struck people, did those rescued Chilean miners ever take up Sandals’ offer of a free vacation in Jamaica?

(I doubt if such an offer by Sandals would change much in the way Trinis view us. It would take much, much more than a public relations gesture by a Jamaican hotel chain.)