By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia

SAVE The Bays Director Fred Smith yesterday accused the government of pandering to the United Nations on the environment instead of effectively mitigating oil pollution after another spill was confirmed in the Clifton area.

In a statement released on Saturday, Environment Minister Kenred Dorsett said international consultants are expected to arrive in New Providence today to investigate the latest spill, its source and advise on mitigation and remediation.

However, Mr Smith blasted the initiative as more “talk” to appeal to voters and international bodies.

He called on the government to release all studies conducted on oil pollution, adding that the ongoing pollution at Clifton not only jeopardised the country’s international reputation, but also threatened the health and safety of residents and jobs for local dive operators.

“The oil issue at Clifton Bay is a monumental and sacrilegous disaster to the environment, especially because of its chronic and continuing nature,” Mr Smith said. “The government only seems to react when there is some crisis and publicity resulting from an oil spill, but the fact is oil and carbon based petroleum products have been oozing into that environment, into the limestone, the Heritage Park, the water table, onto the reefs for decades, and the government must stop the Bahamas Electricity Corporation and/or anybody else from passing the buck.”

“Why doesn’t the ministry have a task force of Bahamians which are qualified to investigate these issues? We have a number of environmental companies, as well as any foreign companies that they wish to hire, to take immediate measures to investigate.”

According to Mr Dorsett’s statement, government officials were on site at Stuarts Cove and Albany to assess the extent of the oil spill and its impact. However, it is unclear when the spill was discovered.

“The Ministry of Transport and Aviation, the Ministry of Environment and Housing, the Department of Environmental Health Services, the BEST Commission and all other relevant agencies have been advised of this incident and dispatched,” the minister’s statement said.

“In addition, the government has retained international consultants who are expected to arrive in the capital on Monday to assist in investigating and confirming the source of the oil spill; assess the impact of the oil spill; address the mitigation of this spill; advise on the preparation of an environmental management plan for the area; and make remediation recommendations.”

The statement added: “The Clifton area has been plagued with oil spills for many decades. This government is resolved and committed to address this vexing problem.”

This latest spill comes after a significant quantity of oil washed ashore on Adelaide Beach last month.

The oil found at Adelaide Beach is suspected to have been dumped by a passing ship, according to Aviation and Transport Minister Glenys Hanna Martin, who addressed parliament on the matter.

Last month Bahamas Electricity Corporation Executive Chairman Leslie Miller also denied that BEC’s Clifton Pier plant was the source of the oil. Mr Miller explained at the time that if the oil came from BEC’s plant it would have “run in the opposite area” near Jaws Beach away from Adelaide.

Members of the National Oil Spill Committee were also notified at the time to establish a plan of action while the Ministry of the Environment immediately dispatched technical officers from the Department of Environmental Health Services (DEHS) and the Bahamas Environment, Science and Technology (BEST) Commission to visit the site, officials said.

However, Mr Smith believes that public utterances from the government on the environment are not matched with action.

“It’s time for the prime minister and Mr Dorsett to stop going off to the United Nations and just talking about it,” he said, referring to Mr Christie’s recent visit to the UN’s Summit on Climate Change. “We have laws in place, what needs to happen is those responsible for enforcing the laws need to pay attention and stop campaigning on the international environmental bandwagon.”

Investigation

Last month, Mr Miller confirmed to The Tribune that the corporation had conducted an investigation into oil pollution at its Clifton Pier Plant and surrounding area. However, Mr Miller refused to release the report because he said that he did not want to divulge dated information. He claimed that the report was more than 10 years old.

Earlier this year, former BEC Chairman Phenton Neymour also confirmed the existence of such a report; however, he told The Tribune that he no longer had access to the document.

The Tribune first began its probe into the matter when the issue was raised at an environmental conference on oil exploration and environmental damage, held at COB in June.

At that time, an official from the Ministry of Environment acknowledged the existence of several reports which outlined environmental degradation as a result of ongoing pollution at industrial facilities at Clifton.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the government was taking unprecedented steps to address ongoing pollution this year.

Meanwhile STB’s independent study of pollution at Clifton Bay is continuing, according to Mr Smith. The organisation intends to send letters to BEC and other facilities in the area for permission to access their sites to complete research. Mr Smith said pollution from petroleum products was an endemic problem in New Providence.

“If we had a Freedom of Information Act, as promised by (former Prime Minister) Hubert Alexander Ingraham and Prime Minister Perry Christie, these things would have to be made available to the public,” Mr Smith said yesterday.

“But we don’t need a FOI for this, why can’t BEC release the information? People’s lives, their health and safety are being effected. There is no reason for any secrecy. I call on the chairman to expose all environmental reports that exist on BEC.”