Public urged to watch out for oil slicks

The fuel leak, which occurred from the Kingston Branch of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) on Sunday, was caused by one of two HFO bulk storage tanks failing, the power company has said.

And so far, reconciled figures indicate that 1, 064 barrels of fuel, which cost US$53, 236 have been spilt, most of which was contained within the Kingston compound.

According to a release yesterday from GPL, at approximately 6:30 pm on Sunday, personnel at the Kingston branch became aware of a failure in one of two HFO bulk storage tanks. The tank contained 7,500 barrels of fuel at the time of the failure and had been constructed since the 1940s.  “The protective bund wall had also failed allowing fuel to spill into the compound then the Demerara River on the west and Water Street on the East.”

According to the statement from the company, “immediate action was taken to transfer fuel to the second bulk storage tank and by Monday afternoon, 4, 913 barrels were successfully removed.  The release also stated that fuel was also pumped into service tanks at the Kingston Wartsila plant which were maintained at their maximum levels constantly.

By Monday evening, containment dams within the compound were completed. Additionally a boom from SOL  was deployed in the Demerara River with the assistance of the Coast Guard and it is trapping fuel which is being displaced by wave action from the shore.   The release further said that two more booms will be deployed today to cover the wharf area and the Kingston koker.

The release added that the Guyana Defence Force assisted in conducting “an aerial reconnaissance of the Demerara River” and its outfall on Monday and identified small fuel slicks.  Most of these slicks will eventually be deposited on the Georgetown, lower East Coast, West Coast and possibly Essequibo Islands and Coast foreshore and on the banks of the Demerara River north of the Demerara Harbour Bridge. A bio-degradable dispersant will be employed to wash the foreshore or safely dissolve the fuel where it is still in the water.  If any fuel is sighted, members of the public are asked to notify GPL on telephone numbers 227-4934 or 623-4062.

The release said that full containment has been achieved and a special arrangement to remove the remaining 32, 000 gallons of fuel in the damaged tank is being implemented. The cleaning of Water Street and associated drains, where containment measures have been employed, started last evening. The Environmental Protection Agency has been present since Monday monitoring the situation and has been advising the power company and a contractor involved in the clean-up.

The cause of the tank failure will be determined within a week when all the fuel has been removed and cleaning is complete, the release said.  Operations at the Wartsila Kingston Plant have not been affected by the fuel leak and alternative arrangements were completed on Monday to access fuel from the second bulk storage tank.

The power company apologized to Kingston residents who were inconvenienced b y the clean-up area and restricted access.

The body also acknowledged the assistance and participation of the GDF (Coast Guard and Air Wing in particular), Guyana Fire Service, Guyana Police Force, the Civil Defence Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, Ministry of Public Works, SOL, Franklin/Singh Disposal Services and J. Adjoda Civil.