Senior Political Reporter
Minister of Energy Stuart Young said yesterday that there is an estimated 34,000 barrels of oil still on board the capsized barge which caused the oil spill off Tobago’s coast on February 7.
He said Government is still pursuing the identification of the owner of the barge and tugboat that brought the barge into T&T’s waters.
Responding to a question from Couva South MP Rudy Indarsingh in Parliament, Young said regarding onshore clean-up operations, the ministry had engaged State company Heritage Petroleum Company Limited (HPCL) on February 9 to provide technical support in managing the incident.
HPCL activated its Incident Management, Business Support and Wildlife Rescue Teams, mobilising 47 people and relevant equipment to support the response.
He said HPCL focused on shoreline clean-up activities in eight areas from the Scarborough Waterfront to the Thompson River, including wildlife search, rescue, and rehabilitation.
“Given that most of the mobile or ‘free’ oil in the eight areas assigned to HPCL has been removed, HPCL has begun scaling down its on-site personnel and equipment as needed,” Young added.
“A joint assessment of these areas to identify the endpoints is underway. This assessment will be to outline a standard to determine the completeness of the clean-up activities and is being performed by a committee which includes representatives of the Tobago Emergency Management Agency, the ministry, the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited, Oil Spill Response Limited and the All Fisherfolk Tobago Association,” Young explained.
He said site visits were conducted on March 28 and 29, with a guideline document expected to be finalised and presented on April 8 at a technical meeting, after which HPCL will provide estimated timelines for the end of this clean-up phase.
Concerning the de-inventory and salvage of the capsized vessel, Young said the ministry has retained T&T Salvage Inc. in a joint venture with QT Environmental Services Inc (two American entities with international expertise and experience) to conduct survey and sampling activities, de-inventory of the capsized vessel, on-water pollution management and re-floating of the wreck.
“The latest estimates are that a total of 34,000 barrels is still on board,” he said.
Only on Thursday, THA Chief Secretary said information he received indicated there was around 20,000 barrels of oil still inside the vessel.
On whether Government has identified the owner of the barge and tugboat, Young said, “That exercise and the confirmation of the owners continues to be pursued by the Works Ministry (Maritime Division) using international resources along with the Foreign Affairs Ministry which has been writing to various countries to ascertain and obtain documentation to support the finding of the ownership of the vessels.”
Young didn’t have the cost for the clean-up yet.
He said, “At this stage, no. It’s an ongoing operation and the expenses are being tabulated to then be taken to the Cabinet.”