– when dealing with oil and gas sector, says EPA executive director

By Rabindra Rooplall
GOVERNMENT must always have the best qualified persons to address issues of the oil and gas sector since anything less is tantamount to failure.
This is according to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Executive Director, Dr. Vincent Adams, during his address at the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GSMA) Business Luncheon held on Wednesday at the Pegasus Hotel.

“You must have the best qualified persons over the other side or else you will lose your leverage and bargaining power, and they will not respect you. They will want to run roughshod over you and you are going to feel so diminished that you will be afraid and embarrassed to even ask a question when you are in doubt,” the EPA director noted.

He explained that in the oil and gas sector, the EPA has unfettered access to every single facility, although the agency does not have the means or capabilities currently and there is still a dependency on contractors to take staff out to the ships.

“We must have unfettered access to any site on land or any ship at sea at any time, that is standard, they know it, anywhere else they go, they know so and it’s not even a conversation for discussion,” he said.

He explained that the EPA is sending more staff overseas to educate themselves to properly serve the agency. Recently, two personnel attended a conference in Florida to educate themselves on the environmental DNA.

Dr. Adams emphasised that Environmental DNA originates from cellular material shed by organisms via skin and excrement among others into aquatic or terrestrial environments that can be sampled and monitored using new molecular methods.

Further, he said when the EPA Act was written in 1996, there was not even a word such as petroleum, oil or gas, since it appears that the drafters never anticipated the sector.
“Fortunately, it has a very broad mandate, we can interpret and maneuver around it to manage oil and gas; we don’t have any regulations… However, standards, guides and regulations were developed all over the world. We are lucky that we do not have to undergo what those countries had experienced in order to develop those standards,” he said.

Dr. Adams said Guyana will adopt the best international standards in time and the country will develop its own regulations.

HIGHEST LIABILITY COVERAGE
Meanwhile, he explained that with the assistance and support, the Bank of Guyana was able to obtain the highest liability coverage in the world, which is US$2.5B.
“When I asked the company (Esso Exploration Guyana Production Limited) if we have a spill and it is above $2.5B… I ensured that there was a guarantee in the permit and the parent company (ExxonMobil, Hess) agreed that anything above the $2.5B will be covered, and it goes for every other company that operates out there,” the EPA executive director said.

Additionally, Dr. Adams said he will not allow politics to affect the operations of the EPA.
“We are not going to allow people to call and say you know what, I know this person and such things, as a matter of fact, that is going to make things much worst for whoever tries that. That is the culture we are building and it sets the fundamental aspects of the agency,” he said.

Reflecting that there was a recent incident where one of the companies spilled 84 barrels of mud into the ocean, Dr. Adams said he subsequently sent out a team to investigate and what was found was “scary.”

In geotechnical engineering drilling fluid, also called drilling mud, is used to aid the drilling of boreholes into the earth. Often used while drilling oil and natural gas wells and on exploration drilling rigs, drilling fluids are also used for much simpler boreholes, such as water wells.

RIOT ACT
“A valve was opened on the surface and that mud was going into the ocean, which means you could have had an empty hole, without any pressure, without anything to bring that mud up, and that could have caused an entire disaster and blowout, and I read them the Riot Act and I had the drilling company come into my office and they were telling me about their great safety record, but you won’t want to hear what I told them,” Dr. Adams told the gathering.

He said all companies on and offshore will be held accountable while noting that the EPA has an entire system set up to respond to complaints.

For the oil and gas sector, he said an entire unit is being built and it will consist of 36 highly-specialised persons who are all qualified.

Last year, the EPA, on two occasions, invited expressions of interest to fill various posts. These recruitment initiatives were intended to boost the agency’s general capacity, as well as to staff the intended Oil and Gas Unit.

But even if the EPA invites expressions of interest from regional professionals, the hiring process will still be delayed as the agency will have no budget to execute this undertaking before March 2, 2020, and likely several months thereafter, given the time it usually takes to prepare, debate, and pass an annual budget.

The University of Guyana (UG) now offers programmes in geological and petroleum engineering as well as a degree in civil with environmental engineering. However, these programmes are relatively new, so while there are some graduates, many of them have been absorbed by the Department of Energy and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission.

President of GSMA, Clinton Williams, in his address, spoke of the need to protect the environment while underscoring the need to address all aspects of the oil and gas sector.
He said the local manufacturing sector will support the proper conduct of all businesses supporting the protection of the environment.

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Picture saved as Vincent Adams
Caption: Executive Director of EPA, Dr. Vincent Adams

Picture saved as GSMA
Caption: President of GSMA, Clinton Williams addressing the business luncheon at the Pegasus Hotel (Adrian Narine Photo)