Residents of Beaucarro in Central Trinidad want the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) sandblasting activities by a petrochemical company in Freeport which they claim is affecting their health.
The residents said they lodged numerous reports with the EMA between October to December, the blasting operations continued. They are concerned about the large plumes of dust that are blown in their homes and loud grinding sound from the activity.
“This going on several months—well maybe six to seven months now. It does have a problem when the wind turns the dust all over. The noise is another problem at nights too,” a resident said
“But the noise wouldn’t be all the time because although they start up at 7 am they would go late sometimes to 7 pm or a little later but most times we noticed that they would finish for the day by 5 pm or 6 pm.
When Guardian Media visited the site recently there were several workers sitting under a tent. One of them said officials from the EMA visited and spoke to the owners of the company. He said the company does work for offshore companies, restoring pipelines and sheet metals “from rust to brand new.”
Company officials have since said that the Freeport operations have been shut down and relocated to Point Galeota.
However, residents are still concerned since equipment and material are still stored at the site.
An official at the EMA confirmed that numerous reports had made against the company and said the matter is “under investigation.”