Service stations have a means of determining when a tank springs a leak be monitoring the amount of water that collects in the tank as well as the amount of fuel that is losses from that tank. They can also determine how long the leak was going on by how far the fuel has seeped into the ground and water table away from the leak. In this case there is little doubt that the leak existed while the service station was being operated. Texaco's livability, if any, will be determined by the terms and conditions of the purchase agreement between itself and Rubis. One would presume that Rubis did inspections of the various properties and had its experts conduct the necessary surveys. Normally the buyer would assume all risks at the completion of a sale or after a specified period. But again specific conditions may apply.

Rather than turning this into a political issue the people of the Bahamas should stand united on all fronts and ensure the company responsible for the spills stand up to their responsibilities to clean up the mess and compensate those affected. The chairman of the DNA put his foot in his mouth when he says the government of the Bahamas remained silent on the issue. Yet he claims he knew of another oil spill but is only mentioning it now. Sounds like more of the same. The story on the two properties he mentioned on East Street South and Soldier Road was that once the road project was completed they would have no clear accessibility. That is why they were vacated and fenced off.

The real question is what was done with the many thousands of gallons of fuel sludge pumped from the Rubis site.

Hillary Clinton says the biggest opposition she faced, even before she announced her candidacy for president, was the media. They left no stone uncovered in trying to dig up skeletons in her past. They have even taken their campaign up (or down) a notch by trying to tie all her husbands earnings during the time she served in office to her. Hence she excluded the media from the first leg of her campaign. They didn't take to kind to that. Those potential candidates aspiring for political office in the Bahamas should take a page out of Clinton's book. When you aspire to political office you should not only have a vision and a plan for the future. But you should also have the ability to carry out that plan and to make that vision a reality. Our leaders in this country, for the most part, are still in the mode of crisis management.

Rubis is a multi-billon dollar, international company, based in France, that not only should have the financial means to compensate those affected by the gas leak, but also the experience and ability to clean up the mess.

There will be some business casualties as some business find themselves in a position of not having the cash on hand to pay VAT. Since filing late and paying late will result in 'hefty fines', according to a government spokesman persons caught in this position will have no option but to close shop. The situation is a Catch 22 one because many medium and smaller businesses were experiencing a cash flow problem prior to the VAT introduction. The additional cash flow generated by VAT may have deceived these persons into believing their overall business position had improved. That is until now, when the time has come to pay VAT, and there is no cash.

What did Rubis do with the leaked fuel it recovered from the Marathon site. By its own admission thousands of gallons of leaked fuel was recovered. What did they do with it?

Persons in Marathon would actually weaken their case against Rubis by making the Government of the Bahamas a defendant in the lawsuit. The government has already admitted that it is is getting little or no cooperation from Rubis it did take the initiative to have tests done in the area to determine the extent of the leak. Residential also had reasonable to know that something was wrong at the service station as it was boarded up and pump truck after pump truck truck could be seen leaving the site over a period of many months. The relocation of Cable Bahamas to the mall was also a clear indication that sometiing was untoward. Besides the residents of Marathon being aggrieved the question is where did Rubis dump all the fuel they recovered? Did they just move the contamination from one area of the island and dump it somewhere else, causing more contamination and putting more persons health at risk?

When you answer the question I asked you then I will answer yours. Otherwise I consider the matter closed.

you could not be black as tar even if someone poured gallons of it on you. You would still be red in the neck and blue in the face. Cobalt...a bluesish metal that turns extremely poisonous when heated up. You are hot at the moment and spilling poison..not black as tar (stop wishful thinking). My initial post was directed towards persons who have friends and family living in the United States where there is in an increase in persons of color, having harm done to them, when they are stopped by police. The intent of the post was for parents and family to alert their families and loved ones not to become confrontational if they are stopped by the police. I have my right to voice my opinion just as you think you have the right to voice over mines. You have no respect for anyone in this country and I challenge you to reference one single post where you stated anything positive about anything or anyone Bahamian. You are posted!