…as EPA awaits information from CH&PA

THE Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently awaiting clearance from the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) before it proceeds with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) on Nalco Champions’ proposed chemical warehouse at John Fernandes Ltd. Inland Terminal at Industrial Site, Ruimveldt.

EPA Executive Director, Dr. Vincent Adams, during an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, said while Nalco Champions has applied for ‘Environmental Authorisation’ for the operation of a chemical warehouse, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which forms part of the review process, cannot be initiated until CH&PA signals the ‘green light’ to do so.

He explained that CH&PA must formally indicate to the EPA whether the proposed chemical facility will be erected in the correct zone – that is an industrial zone. Dr. Adams said only then a determination can be made on whether or not to proceed with the EIA. “We are not going to proceed to process any application without us knowing whether they are in the right zone,” EPA Executive Director told this newspaper, noting that the proposed site must be industrial in nature.

In determining the impact the proposed project could have on the environment and human life, Dr. Adams indicated that public consultations would be conducted in addition to the technical assessment that would be done, however, he reiterated that the EIA cannot commence unless EPA is informed that approval has been granted by the CH&PA for industrial activities to occur within the location. “We have got to get the final information, if CHPA said yes there are in the right zone then we will take it from there and see whether they could or should be permitted,” Dr. Adams said. At a public consultation session at the Houston Secondary School on Tuesday, CH&PA Chief Development Planner, Germene Stewart, told concerned residents that in 2014 the housing authority granted approval to John Fernandes Ltd. for the operation of an industrial warehouse facility at the Industrial Site. However, it is unclear that the change in land use approval caters for the operation of chemical facilities such as the one proposed by Nalco Champions.

In addition to storing the chemicals, Nalco Champions is proposing to transport the chemicals from the Inland Terminal to John Fernandes Water Street Port and then unto a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels offshore Guyana. In its defense, the international oil and gas company, said the proposed facility at John Fernandes Ltd. Inland Terminal will only house chemical products, making it clear that there will be no manufacturing of chemicals there.

At the public consultation session, the company’s Global Business Development Manager, Mike Knippers, said though described as a warehouse, the proposed facility is really a modernised shed where chemicals will be transferred from one chemical tank to another for transfer to the FPSO vessels offshore Guyana.

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.”

Miller, in his bid to convince residents that Nalco Champion’s operation would be safe, emphasised 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, an Ecolab company, provides safe, sustainable chemistry programmes and services to the upstream and midstream oil and gas industry, refineries and petrochemical operations in more than 170 countries around the world. Through onsite problem-solving and the application of innovative technologies, we maximise production, optimise water use and overcome complex challenges in the world’s toughest energy frontiers,” the company had said.

But the explanations given, from all indication, were of no satisfaction to the residents particularly those from Houston Garden, who live in close proximity to the proposed site. On Tuesday, they told the authorities to take the proposed facility elsewhere.
“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,” Kent Phillips one of the residents told the officials. He and other residents proposed that the facility be set up further up the Demerara River or at Wales, Region Three.