By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A North Andros land owner is slamming as “perverse” threats of financial sanctions unless he agrees by today to give Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) access to clean up its own oil spill.

Captain Randy Butler, who headed Sky Bahamas, told Tribune Business that regulators have warned he will be “liable for environmental damages” and could face fines unless he allows BPL to enter his property and remediate pollution from a fuel line leak that was first discovered more than two years ago.

While than more than willing to give BPL the required access, he nevertheless revealed he has concerns about doing so unless the state-owned utility produces a plan showing how it will “not further damage my property” after its previous remediation efforts saw tractors and back hoes digging up and “bulldozing my yard”.

Mr Butler told this newspaper that he was stunned to be threatened with fines by the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) given the principle enshrined in law that the ‘polluter pays’, meaning that the party responsible for oil spills or any type of pollution must finance, and often organise, the clean-up and remediation efforts.

The alleged spill from a BPL fuel line that brought diesel from the dock to its North Andros generation plant was first discovered around January 2022. However, Tribune Business has seen correspondence confirming that clean-up efforts were halted by a DEPP ‘cease and desist’ order over how BPL was disposing of the contaminated soil.

Dr Rhianna Neely-Murphy, DEPP’s director, revealed in a September 16, 2024, letter to Mr Butler’s attorney, Ashley Williams, that BPL only obtained a certificate of environmental clearance (CEC) to conduct the necessary North Andros oil spill remediation some 20 months later in October 2023. To restart the clean-up, it now needs access to the site via his adjacent property.

“To this end, the Department requires that Mr Butler grant immediate access to his property to BPL to conduct site remediation activities no later than seven days from receipt of this letter to prevent further environmental damage,” Dr Neely-Murphy wrote.

“Failure to do so will result in Mr Butler being held liable for environmental damages in addition to fines under the Environmental Planning and Protection Act. The Department is committed to resolving this matter promptly and efficiently. Your formal response to this missive is expected by the close of business on September 25, 2024 [today].”

Mr Butler, in response, told this newspaper: “Thousands of gallons of oil went into the ground a couple hundred feet from the beach in North Andros. I thought they’d have that cleaned up from 2022 when it happened. Apparently, DEPP gave BPL a ‘cease and desist’ order because they did not have a remediation plan in place.

“Now, I receive a letter from the DEPP asking me to give BPL access to my property otherwise they’ll be imposing penalties on me. Isn’t that perverse? Normally it’s the polluter that pays. I’m not the person that polluted; BPL polluted. I’m very surprised that DEPP has not done anything about this earlier. It’s already gone into the water table and is moving around.

“Threatening me, there’s no need for that. I’d be glad for them to have permission once they put in place a plan that does not further damage my property. We’ve asked them for an extension so our expert can look at the remediation plan so we can avoid further damage. They took a tractor and dug up and bulldozed all the yard. They got back hoes and dug holes trying to get the fuel out. They kept coming on my property without permission.”

DEPP could not be reached for comment before press time last night, but a BPL spokesperson via messaged reply confirmed: “We are still awaiting an order from DEPP giving us access to the site. We expect to have that in hand within a few days and will commence remediation work shortly thereafter.

“We do not have a timeline for this work but we are treating it with utmost importance and will exhaust all available avenues to restore the area. We are working with several government agencies, including the Water & Sewerage Corporation, to safeguard the health of residents in the area.”

Mr Butler, while grateful for the renewed focus by the DEPP and BPL, said he suspected it had only become urgent because of the Government’s energy reform drive and the desire not to pass environmental and other liabilities over to the new structure.

Samantha Rolle, BPL’s director of legal affairs, confirmed in an April 18, 2023, letter to ex-environment minister Romauld Ferreira, former attorney for Mr Butler and his Daran Corporation Holdings, that DEPP had halted the utility’s initial clean-up and response.

She added that it had not even been allowed to secure the site to prevent Androsians exposing themselves to cancer-causing chemicals by seeking to recover the spilt oil. “While BPL denies that the claimed damage was as a result of any negligence on the part of its employees or agents, BPL took the necessary steps, with the approval of the relevant environmental agencies to immediately mitigate damages from the spill,” Ms Rolle wrote.

“This included the excavation of contaminated material and the recovery of free-phase diesel oil from the sub-surface. The DEHS (Department of Environmental Health Services) and DEPP issued a ‘cease and desist’ order on February 22, 2022, after BPL had transported approximately 60 cubic yards of contaminated soils to a prepared holding area at the local dump.

“The order required BPL to stop the transport of the soil to the dump and submit a ‘Landfarm Management Plan’. BPL immediately complied and submitted the requested report on March 3, 2022. After recovering approximately 1,500 gallons of diesel oil, BPL halted recovery efforts at approximately the same time and there has been no oil recovery by BPL since then.”

Ms Rolle said consultants had installed temporary monitoring wells at the site in July 2022 so that groundwater contamination could be sampled, but it was left open to public access. “Kindly note that BPL’s staff noted that local residents were accessing the site and retrieving fuel from the shallow pits,” she wrote.

“BPL informed the DEPP in March 2022 of the unauthorised activity and requested permission to secure the area but, to-date, no response has been received. No further remedial action has been taken by BPL. As such, BPL denies that it trespassed on to your clients property and further denies any ongoing trespass as stated in your said letter.”

Mr Butler said the continued presence of oil pollution was undermining his five-cottage vacation rental business and had also forced him to close the restaurant due to the stench of petroleum products. “Every time it rains it comes up,” he added. “When the tide comes up it really smells. 

“I can smell it two years later. I’ve gone to the minister of the environment [Vaughn Miller], and he told me he’d look into it. Nothing. I spoke to the MP [Leonardo Lightbourne], who said he’s looking into it. I spoke to the Prime Minister who said he’s looking into it. That’s been two years.”

Mr Butler and his company have initiated legal action in the Supreme Court against BPL over the oil spill, and the two sides are in discussions over a proposed settlement while the case remains live. A July 8, 2024, report commissioned by Mr Butler from John Bowleg, a Bahamian engineer and chartered water and environmental manager, found significant contamination still at the site.

“The subject property continues to be vulnerable to impact/contamination by hydrocarbon/fuel products,” Mr Bowleg concluded. “From the visit to the site on June 24, 2024, the non-contact exposure (fumes) from the suspected hydrocarbon contaminant area was quite obvious and very nauseous [during a low tide]. General movement of the groundwater is toward the north from the south.”

Pointing out that Mr Butler’s vacation rental properties “cannot benefit” from opening their windows, while air conditioning units may pull diesel vapours into the building, the report added: “Any hydrocarbon contaminants within the groundwater lens may also lead to the emission of nauseous odors into the foundation of the structures, and into the body of the houses, grocery store, restaurant within this area.

“Both groundwater and air contamination are a concern. The suspected source of the contamination is the BPL high-pressure fuel line running north to south, and then east to west, of the Butler properties (along the western boundary of the subject commercial rental properties and also east to west over a land parcel owned by Randy Butler.

“The source of the fuel spill has not entirely been isolated. To date, the contamination has migrated from the source site, and apparently continues to date. No present warning signage or boundary fencing exists at the time of the visit to alert the general public of an occurrence of the spill and/or open pit trenches with product on the properties.”