By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

SAVE The Bays has called for the sale of Equinor’s South Riding Point storage facility in Grand Bahama to be halted until the clean-up of the massive 2019 oil spill is done, saying amounts of residual oil still remain on the site.

The oil spill occurred when Hurricane Dorian pummeled the northern Bahamas in September 2019. The estimated volume of the oil spill is 55,000 barrels (2.3 million gallons).

Since then, there has been a debate about whether sufficient action was taken to remediate the Equinor site, as some local environmentalists have called on the government to be vigilant on the clean up efforts.

Save The Bays said in a statement that the sale of the Equinor oil storage facility should not be permitted to move along until the clean-up of the massive oil spill is complete.

“Save The Bays (STB) has maintained a constant presence on the ground in the aftermath of the spill and we can confirm that up to December 2022, enormous amounts of residual oil remained on and around the site,” STB’s statement said.

STB claimed that in recent weeks the company has started barring environmentalists from the area which has prevented the group from continuing with its assessments.

The statement continued: “Nevertheless, oil appears to remain settled in waste wells, untreated since the 2019 spill, which can compromise the aquatic and water quality of the surrounding wetlands – which is an area where the water table is less than four feet below the surface.

“It is our assessment that the Equinor site represents a serious and ongoing ecological and public health danger, which must be fully and openly addressed before the facility is allowed to change hands.”

STB called on the government not to sanction any sale of Equinor until it is confirmed that the site has been returned to its pre-spill condition.

The organisation stressed the need for a “thorough” and “transparent” evaluation process that will include the environmental community and other stakeholders in Grand Bahama.

STB noted there also needs to be a transparent report for the people of the Grand Bahama community.

“The Davis administration has repeatedly claimed that climate resilience and environmental sustainability are to be the cornerstones of its legacy.

“Allowing a company that has spilled millions of gallons of oil into the ground in a sensitive and ecologically significant area, to kick this toxic can down the road to a new owner, hardly meets that standard,” the statement said.

After the incident, Equinor said it was committed to cleaning up the area and that it would establish a long-term monitoring plan of ground water and for the affected forest areas to be submitted to local authorities.

This week, Equinor announced on its website that it has entered into an agreement with Liwathon for the sale of the South Riding Point oil terminal.

“Liwathon will assume the responsibilities for the employees of South Riding Point,” Equinor’s website says. “The transaction is approved by Bahamian authorities.”

Liwathon Group is an integrated logistics and investment business that provides an extensive range of services in the area of handling, transport and storage of liquid fuels traded globally, Equinor said.