Oil spill concerns persist at EPA scoping meeting on Liza Phase 2 project

ExxonMobil’s Operations Manager Doug McGhee discusses the Liza Phase 2 development with residents of Region Three at a session held at the Leonora Technical Institute.

A potential oil spill and the effects on the environment remained among the main concerns raised when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continued its ongoing public scoping meetings on the oil company’s Liza Phase 2 Development Project in Region Three last Friday.

“In the event of an oil spill, what guarantees we have that the consequences of it will not affect the environment and fisher folk badly?” resident Jay Narine, who is a fisherman, asked EPA and ExxonMobil officials at the public scoping meeting that was held at the Leonora Technical Institute, on the West Coast of Demerara.

“I am a fisherman and I have six children. I may not be here later on when oil start really but an oil spill can impact heavily on fish and that is we way of life. We catch gilbaka here and it already depleting… so, what will you do so that this don’t impact heavily on fish?” John Benchman, another fisherman, added.