Strict laws needed to monitor chemicals from oil sector – Fmr. EPA head

With Guyana being an oil producing nation, it is expected that the country will see an influx of hazardous chemicals related to the sector. At the moment, however, the guardian of Guyana’s environment, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is without any law or regulation to oversee this area.
As such, the former head of the Agency, Dr. Vincent Adams relayed that it is integral for the EPA to have strict laws and regulations to monitor the chemicals coming into Guyana, as it has primary oversight to ensure the safety of the environment.

So far, an oil waste treatment plant and chemical storage and warehouse facility has already passed the purview of the agency. With these projects, comes a string of chemicals used in the sector and both did not require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to be conducted prior to construction.
The EPA had said that, “in accordance with Section 11 (2) of the Environmental Protection Act, Cap 20:05, Laws of Guyana, the application for each project listed above has been screened by the agency to assess its potential environmental impacts and it has been determined that these projects will not significantly affect the environment or human health, and therefore are exempted from the requirement for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).”

The environmental expert had disclosed to Kaieteur News that the EPA is lacking critical equipment to assess simple environmental issues. Additionally, an audit had revealed that the agency was severely lacking in human resource capacity as well. With oil production expected to ramp up, the EPA will have its hands full with the string of environmental issues to follow.
“If you think we are not going to have environmental issues, you’ve got something else coming because in the industry, there is going to be all kinds of chemicals we have never seen before, never had any experience with and it is all going to hit us,” Adams said.

Already, Guyana’s response capacity was tested in a major way after a “Rheduce” chemical spill at the Guyana National Industrial Company (GNIC) wharf. A forklift pierced a container holding the chemical that was left at the facility for months after being imported.
While the chemical posed no harm on the environment and human life, what was most concerning about the incident was that the EPA was notified more than nine hours after the spill had occurred.