– objecting to any proposal to have a chemical warehouse set up at Houston
– though assured by company that all safety mechanisms would be in place

RESIDENTS of Houston Gardens and neigbouring communities railed into Nalco Champion on Tuesday, suggesting that it should take its proposed chemical warehouse facility elsewhere, though the international oil and gas company assured them that if its facility is established at the proposed site at John Fernandes Ltd. Inland Terminal at Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, strict safety measures would be adhered to.

During a public consultation session organised by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Nalco’s Global Business Development Manager, Mike Knippers, and its Project Manager, Willie Miller, while addressing residents at the Houston Secondary School, made it clear that no chemical would be manufactured at the site.

The company has applied for ‘Environmental Authorisation’ from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for the operation of a chemical warehouse facility at John Fernandes Ltd. Inland Terminal and for the transportation of chemicals from the Inland Terminal to John Fernandes Water Street Port. The chemicals would thereafter be transferred to the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels offshore Guyana. In addition to the application before the EPA, the company has turned to CH&PA for clearance, and in an effort to receive buy-in from the neighbouring communities, the public consultation was organised.

During that consultation, Knippers said that, unlike Nalco’s Champion Sugar Land manufacturing facilities in Texas, there will be no manufacturing of chemicals at the proposed site. In fact, the Global Business Development Manager said, though described as a warehouse, it is really a modernised shed where chemicals will be transferred from one chemical tank to another for transfer to the FPSO vessels offshore Guyana.

While admitting that the construction of the shed had commenced, he said the project has been placed on hold until approval is granted from the relevant authorities. However, he assured the residents, that, if approval was granted, the operations would have little or no impact on the environment or residents within neighbouring communities of the facility.
“There will be no blending; there will be no reactions; no permanent storage tanks; no buried chemicals; and no vapour clouds, no emissions coming out of that facility,” Knippers told the residents.

His colleague, Miller disclosed that the four Guyanese who will man the facility are currently in the U.S undergoing training. Clarifying the use and functions of the proposed facility, the Project Manager said “it is only a facility to store, filter and repack product.”

Like Knippers, Miller explained that the chemical would be transferred from one container to another before it is shipped out. “What we really be doing is chemical transfer, so we will be bringing this large container in, and we will pump the (chemical) into another container and then that will fill up either of the smaller containers,” Miller explained. He said mechanisms would be in place to ensure that there is no spillage or leakages.

Miller, in his bid to convince residents that Nalco Champion’s operation would be safe, emphasized that it would be strictly a storage and container facility which will have a range of safety features including the presence of 20- and 25- pound fire extinguishers.
He was keen on pointing out that it would have protective frames, pressure safety valves and internal safety shut-off valve, adding that every two and a half years, the facility, which would be ISO certified, would be inspected. Nalco Champion Project Manager also informed the residents that there would be a Spill Emergency Response Plan in the event that there is a spill. In such a case, he noted that the contaminated soil will be removed and disposed of by a certified waste disposal management company.

“This operation involves bringing finished products from our US base; all we are doing is transferring and filtering products into smaller containers…and transfer them onto the vessel where needed,” he summarised. According to him, Nalco Champion has a positive safety culture and leadership.

Civil, Geotechnical and Groundwater Hydrology Engineer, Charles Ceres, a resident of Houston Gardens, while objecting to the facility being set up at the Industrial Site location, questioned CH&PA’s authority to facilitate the consultative session.

Ceres, while asking CH&PA to point to the section in the Town and Country Planning Act which authorizes the facilitation of such a process, said when residents were invited to the meeting there was no indication that Nalco Champion would be delivering a presentation.
He questioned whether CH&PA is prepared to compensate residents if there is a drop in the property value or a chemical spill. Ceres, who is no stranger in Guyana, called on the Georgetown Mayor and City Council to indicate whether permission was granted for the establishment of the various facilities erected in the Industrial Site location.

In response, a city official explained that permission was granted for some of the facilities erected in the area of concern. Stepping in to respond to the series of questions posed by Ceres, the CH&PA Chief Development Planner, Germene Stewart, said the authority, without consulting residents, could have simply granted its approval, but in the interest of democracy, it thought it best to consult residents and other key stakeholders like the Guyana Fire Service, the Guyana Office for Investment, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Stewart disclosed too that approximately five years ago CH&PA granted approval to John Fernandes Ltd. for the operation of an industrial warehouse facility at the Industrial Site.
Another resident, Kent Phillips, who also lives in Houston Gardens, made it clear that neither he nor the residents of his community will support the establishment of the facility at the proposed site.

“Let us be clear, we don’t have a problem with people coming into this country and making it a better place; we don’t have a problem with the facility, it is the location, and the manner in which this was done,” Phillips said.

He told the Nalco Champion Officials and Phillip Fernandes, who represented John Fernandes Limited, that when he purchased his land in 2010, it was clearly stated on the transport that there should be no factory, shop or commercial activity of any kind conducted in the area. As such, Phillips said news of a change in use of the area operated by John Fernandes comes as a major surprise. Like Ceres, he too complained that the property value would be dropped in the Houston Gardens area.

“Nobody is against development, this is something that is absolutely necessary, so the problem is the location,” he iterated.

Phillips while questioning why the chemicals must be filtered inland before going offshore, said Guyana has no shortage of land space, and as such the proposed facility could be erected further up the Demerara River.

“If you go about 30 miles up the Demerara River, you will find wonderful land that you could go on the western bank and you can set up a plant that, if something happens, it is not going to affect anybody,” he reasoned.

Ceres went one step further and suggested that the proposed facility can be set up at Wales, Region Three. “I am going to ask, why wasn’t a place like Wales thought of as a place for the facility, and I have the Ministry of Finance and Go-Invest here also. The reality is the people in Wales have been set asunder because of the closure of the estate, if they give people this land in Wales they can build infrastructure in front for housing, and they could have this facility at the back,” he suggested.

Ramesh Dookhoo, who lives in D’Aguiar Park, called on the company to disclose whether Chemicals such as methanol, Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene (BTEX) would be stored at the facility. In response, the company officials indicated that chemicals would include Xylene but made it clear that such chemicals are found in substances used on a daily basis.