By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

RUBIS Bahamas’ remediation expert yesterday declared that groundwater and indoor air in the Marathon area affected by the company’s gasoline leak did not pose a threat to public health.

Arcadis vice-president Jorge Ramirez said the size of the affected area was small, contained and had not expanded or migrated beyond initial limits during a media presentation at the Rubis headquarters.

As officials move into the final phase of remediation, Mr Ramirez said that the recently released report by Black and Veatch International was only based on data collected in 2013, none of which was collected independently.

“Black and Veatch is very reputable company, a very good company globally,” Mr Ramirez said, “but the review report that they submitted in February 2014 that was based on reports from Arcadis or from Rubis and other sources and they did not collect any additional information, they didn’t collect any sampling. All of that was from 2013, since then 2014 and 2015 the remediation and clean-up at the Robinson Road fuel site continues and based on the 2015 sampling that we have conducted we can affirm that (no threat to public health).”

“The affected area has concentrations that are exceeding the regulatory limits and that area is under four properties. I think the important issue that we need to understand here is that the people underneath that affected area are not in contact with their water. The remediation effort will continue, we will decrease the plume, we will clean it up.”

He added: “Even though the impacted area is under four properties, the neighbours, or the people who have those wells are not in danger because they are not using the wells. The wells were condemned and they were turned on to municipal water.”

In its press statement, Rubis confirmed that the fuel spill occurred at its Robinson Road service station on November 25, 2012.

Rubis managing director Gordon Craig defended the corporation’s remediation, an exercise that has cost the company several million dollars, as “quick and decisive” since it was informed on January 19, 2013.

“We are sparing no cost,” Mr Craig said, “and as Arcadis confirmed we are going beyond what is required because our primary commitment is to ensure the protection of public health and the environment.”

The corporation contracted local firm Baychem, who began initial cleanup within five days, and then engaged Arcadis to implement an intensive clean-up and begin air and water evaluation.

Mr Ramirez, Arcadis’ principal engineer, explained that while contamination within the affected area was still above acceptable levels, it did not pose a health risk because there was no access to groundwater by residents.

The affected area identified has an approximate 600-foot radius, according to Mr Ramirez, who said that 100 homes were surveyed in the immediate area. Of those homes, 55 wells were located, and 50 were sampled after access was granted.

The Ministry of the Environment, in an August 22, 2014, letter to the petroleum company’s senior Bahamian management, called on it to undertake numerous activities to mitigate the health and environmental consequences of the leakage at its gas station.

Besides the “bi-annual health assessments of those individuals determined to be directly impacted by the fuel release,” the Ministry also urged Rubis to conduct a general public health assessment of persons living in the neighbourhood.

Yesterday, Mr Craig said the company was still in talks with the government over its request for health assessments made last year.

“In respect to that letter,” Mr Craig said, “that is submitted to the government there are many issues in there that requirements that happened at various times and we have been in communication with the government on the issues with testing and the other issues.

“In recent meetings with the government, they have said that they are happy with the areas that we have progressed and there are others still to be done in there which we shall do.”

When asked specifically whether the company would conduct health screenings, Mr Craig said: “We are in discussion with the government.”

Mr Craig said there were no spills at any other Rubis locations to his knowledge.