While a request for assistance has not been made to Guyana following a Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) oil spill, the Civil Defense Commission (CDC) has indicated its readiness to assist if called upon.
Trinidad and Tobago is currently dealing with an oil spill off the coast of Canoe Bay in Tobago, which occurred a few days ago. The spill, coming in the leadup to the twin island’s Carnival activities, has resulted in oil not only contaminating the waters but parts of the coastline.
When contacted, the Head of the Civil Defense Commission (CDC), Colonel Nazrul Hussein, confirmed that Trinidad had not made any request for assistance. However, he indicated the agency’s willingness to assist if such a request is made. This is considering the capacity the CDC itself has built to handle oil spills.
“(Based on) the damage done, that would (cause) them to ask for external assistance. They haven’t reached out to us, because from their own assessment, they can deal with it. (But if they did request assistance) yes, definitely,” Colonel Hussein explained.
Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley, at a press conference called to provide updates on the spill, had said that the situation is being treated as a national emergency. The boat has been described as a mystery vessel, with Rowley noting that authorities still do not know where the vessel is from or to whom it belongs.
Guyana is a member of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), which is a regional inter-governmental agency. In light of Guyana’s own growing oil and gas industry, steps have been taken to prepare the country to deal with oil spills. This has included training and equipment, as well as the formulation of a National Oil Spill Contingency plan.
There is also a National Oil Spill Committee (NOSC) comprised of agencies such as the Civil Defense Commission (CDC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ministry of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, The Hydrometeorological Office thru the Ministry of Agriculture, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), Guyana Marine Conservation Society, Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the GDF Coast Guard.
Last year, the NOSC took part in a simulated oil spill activity in Berbice as part of EXERCISE TRADEWINDS 2023, which is a multi-faceted response exercise hosted by Guyana in 2023. The Committee launched into action during a day at locations such as the Skeldon Sugar Estate (Command Center), CGX Palmyra and Number 61 Beach (Impact Zone/Staging Area).
The simulation included a response and a proactive phase to a fictitious incident involving spilt fuel in the Berbice River and residual implications for such a hazard.
Last month, ExxonMobil Guyana, which is producing oil from the Stabroek Block, also conducted a quarterly preventative maintenance activity on its Oil Spill Response Crucial Kit equipment at the GYSBI shore base — an exercise aimed at ensuring there is adequate in-country response capacity in the unlikely event of an oil spill.
Within the oil spill emergency response scope, equipment such as the boom and skimmer are integral tools that facilitate containment and recovery. Booms are temporary floating barriers that help to slow the spread of oil within a water area. This phase of containment enables the skimmer, which is a mechanical device that ‘skims’ the surface area, to remove the oil.
