Utility mum on incident
A chlorine leak that occurred on July 27 reportedly at the Guyana Water Incorporated’s (GWI) Vlissengen Road compound has left residents surprised that the incident wasn’t reported to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or adequate follow-up action taken.
When contacted, Exe-cutive Director of the EPA Doerga Persaud said that his staff only received a complaint yesterday morning. He said further that GWI will be contacted for them to issue a report on the matter and the EPA will have to determine whether the incident was dealt with in an environmentally appropriate manner.
Persaud said also that he was surprised that GWI had not reported the matter, given the seriousness of the issue, although other companies would seek the EPA’s help in handling such matters.
The chlorine leak which occurred around 2 am on July 27 had severely affected residents in the southern section of Bel Air Park, especially those on Lama Avenue, since a north-easterly wind was blowing at the time. Stabroek News learnt that some residents had evacuated their homes in anxiety over the danger the gas posed to their well-being and some of them had made precautionary visits to the hospital.
According to reports reaching this newspaper a section of the copper tubes which are a part of the apparatus used in the transfer of chlorine gas had exploded, sending the greenish/yellowish gas into the air.
No information
However repeated efforts to obtain a comment from GWI on the report proved futile. When contacted repeatedly over a number of days the Communications Officer said that she had no information on the matter and advised that contact be made with the company’s CEO Karan Singh. Repeated calls to GWI were not put through to Singh and calls were not returned. There were no replies also to e-mails sent to the CEO.
A resident of the area told Stabroek News that when the incident occurred efforts were made to call the emergency number at GWI but there was no answer.
Stabroek News learnt that a prominent business individual had then called Singh who subsequently made a visit to the site around 4 am.
Further information reaching Stabroek News stated that the technician who oversaw the chlorine site was transferred to the Corentyne and he apparently was not replaced so there was no one on duty at the time of the leak.
Casual approach
Meanwhile a resident who called this newspaper on Wednesday said that the “casual approach” the situation was treated with should not be accepted.
She said that persons should have been evacuated when the incident occurred and health officers brought in to ensure it was safe to return. However none of this happened.
According to internet research inhalation of chlorine gas can destroy the respiratory organs of its victims and lead to a slow death by asphyxiation.
It can also sear the nose, throat, and lungs, causing pneumonia.
Chlorine, its symbol CI, is a pale green gas about 2.5 times as dense as air. It has a disagreeable, suffocating odour, and is choking and poisonous. Chlorine is a powerful oxidant and is used in bleaches and disinfectants. In the upper atmosphere, molecules containing chlorine have been implicated in the destruction of the ozone layer.
Persons who have had a minor exposure to chlorine gas may experience burning of the eyes or throat, consistent with irritation of their mucous membranes.
