By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

ENVIRONMENT Minister Romauld Ferreira yesterday confirmed officials from his ministry are “looking into” reports of a massive fuel spill in western New Providence over the weekend.

The confirmation came as Sam Duncombe, founder of reEarth, indicated that the reported spill had now allegedly affected between 500 to 700 feet of land in an area she described as just north of Adelaide Village, east of the Clifton Heritage Park and west of Frank Watson Drive.

Several attempts by The Tribune to contact Mr Ferreira by phone Tuesday were unsuccessful up to press time, his only response coming in the form of  a text message around 2.30pm which acknowledged that environment officials were indeed aware of the reported leak.

There are several businesses in the area that either handle or transport various fuel supplies, however, officials have not been able to locate or verify which of the companies might be responsible for the leak.

Mrs Duncombe said she has returned to the site several times since the fuel was discovered.

She noted that officials were on the ground yesterday.

She went on to describe the smell in and around the area as a “heavy scent of fuel.”

Mrs Duncombe told The Tribune: “I’ve kept my eye on this because it is unclear who caused it or who will work to remediate this occurrence and it is a sad case.

“If you were to drive anywhere near the Adelaide Village entrance, you will smell the heavy scent of fuel and it is very alarming.”

She continued: “This has been a vexing issue, especially in the section of the island, for many, many years. There has to be some answers in this situation and the new government must get to the bottom of this.

“I stopped by today (Tuesday) and saw guys working on it. They confirmed that there was a fuel spill. They are digging trenches to see the extent and working their way up and down the area to see how much fuel was actually out there.

“I can’t believe that we still haven’t worked out a way to stop these kinds of occurrences. We have to mitigate what is going on at Clifton. This island has to be the most toxic place on earth.”

Mr Ferreira, appointed as environment minister earlier this month, is an environmental attorney by profession and played a prominent role in the environmental lobby group Save the Bays before being elected to office.