By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

OFFICIALS of the environmental advocacy group Save the Bays yesterday called for an independent investigation into reports of a feared fuel leak from the Rubis (Bahamas) service station in the Sandyport Olde Town Mall.

Save the Bays CEO Vanessa Haley-Benjamin said yesterday that due to the lack of transparency and failure to adopt best practices during the “now notorious Marathon fuel spill,” there is a great need for independent investigators to look into the new reports made by area residents and proprietors last week.

She alleged, however, the government has known about the reported leak for weeks and offered no public commentary until concerned residents began to voice their concerns on social media.

Mrs Haley-Benjamin said it appeared that both the government and the company have failed to learn lessons from the December 2012 Marathon incident involving another Rubis station.

She added that many affected Marathon residents were kept in the dark for more than two years, despite serious potential consequences for their health and safety resulting from prolonged exposure to an extremely hazardous cocktail of chemical compounds.

Both the government and Rubis kept their silence until forced to speak when Michael Pintard raised the matter in the Senate earlier this year, she said.

“The government apologised and promised to be more transparent going forward. Yet here we are just a few months later, facing reports of another possible fuel spill, and again outside pressure was needed to bring the matter to light,” Ms Haley-Benjamin said.

“More generally speaking, considering the serious and ongoing environmental damage caused by petrochemical pollution throughout New Providence and around The Bahamas, it was hoped that our political leaders would consider every potential case to be high priority.

“A critical part of doing so would be ensuring that investigations into possible spills, leaks and other polluting incidents are conducted by credible independent bodies. In this regard, we find it alarming that Rubis is being allowed to conduct its own probe into the Sandyport complaints, EMRAD’s separate review notwithstanding.”

Mrs Haley-Benjamin insisted that in other countries, experienced scientists and industry experts with “a reputation for thoroughness and objectivity” would have been contracted to conduct investigations.

“It is lamentable that in this area, as in so many others pertaining to environmental protection, The Bahamas continues to lag far behind. This case is yet another pointed example of why the country desperately needs a robust Freedom of Information Act to be passed immediately.”

While she applauded the news that the Environmental Remediation and Response Laboratory (EMRAD) is now investigating, she questioned why the government remained tightlipped until the matter was raised in a Facebook post.

Meanwhile, Managing Director of Rubis Gordon Craig insisted in an interview with The Tribune on Sunday that the company was doing everything to not only correct the matter, but find the source of the issue.

He stated that once notified, representatives from Rubis were dispatched to the Sanyport site, shutting down the station’s pumps and carrying out extensive testing at the site.

“There were no issues or leaks observed at the time,” said Mr Craig.

“We went through all the necessary protocols and concluded that whatever issues existed, it wasn’t as a result of Rubis. However, beyond that we will continue to monitor the situation in the coming days.”