Senior Reporter
kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
Mariners are raising environmental concerns after a slick estimated to stretch up to two miles long and half a mile wide was spotted floating in the Gulf of Paria, south of Port-of-Spain, on Sunday.
Witnesses believe the substance was diesel mixed with oil residue, possibly dumped from a vessel.
Tour operator Navin Kalpoo said he encountered the northern edge of the slick while conducting a birdwatching tour in the mangroves off Caroni.
He said the substance did not resemble crude oil, but appeared lighter and less adhesive, characteristics consistent with diesel.
Kalpoo explained that crude oil is typically dark, sticky and difficult to remove from boats, but the substance he observed behaved differently.
“It was a really big patch. I estimate a half-mile wide and two miles long. What tends to happen, and goes under the radar, is that sometimes there is bad storage on ships, and water gets in. It cannot be used for an engine, it is costly to discard, and the cheapest way is to dump it overboard. I have seen it in the past but not very often,” Kalpoo said.
He described the practice as dangerous and recalled a similar incident last year, when barrels of what appeared to be diesel were dumped in the car park at the Caroni Bird Sanctuary, killing crustaceans and damaging vegetation.
“My concern is if it hits land, it hits the western side, which is the mangrove coastline; we would see with time that it is toxic for the environment.”
Speaking to Guardian Media at the Eric Williams Financial Complex, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Dr Roodal Moonilal said he had not yet received a report on the latest incident and would be contacting Heritage to obtain further information.
Conrad Ramcharan, who was among eight people on a fishing expedition, also encountered the sheen west of Felicity, where they launched their vessel.
Ramcharan said the crew left Felicity around 8.30 am and travelled west for about 25 minutes before smelling diesel and noticing a sheen on the water.
He said the captain slowed the vessel, fearing the substance would stick to the hull.
Moonilal, however, said given the ageing state of infrastructure associated with Heritage Petroleum, it was not surprising that leaks and spills were occurring almost daily.
“That is something we face on a daily basis,” he said.
He noted that a recent onshore leak in Fyzabad had been dealt with quickly.
“This is part of the legacy of the former administration, where you have ageing infrastructure and very little maintenance over the years,” he said.
Moonilal added that pipeline upgrade projects were underway in south Trinidad to reduce leaks, which can disrupt oil production, increase repair and clean-up costs, and pose environmental risks.
“I would say there was a whole big area of about a half-mile radius where you are seeing a sheen, like a rainbow on the water because the water was not rough,” Ramcharan said.
He said it took about five minutes to move clear of the affected area.
On their return, the crew did not see the oil and believed it had drifted closer to land. Ramcharan warned that if the slick moved eastward, it could threaten the Caroni Swamp and its wildlife.
“It is very sad to see the amount of oil in the water there. All of us eat fish from the Gulf, and Orange Valley is the biggest fishing port in Trinidad, with all the boats. There were a lot of boats further out, so I was surprised that nobody highlighted it. I do not know if it is the norm, but there was a large amount of oil. I do not know if someone dumped it from their boat or if some disaster happened.”
The group continued further out to sea to find cleaner waters.
