Earth Day 2020 — FFOS warns of increased risk of oil spills…
Date: April 22nd , 2020
Dear Editor/Newsroom,
AS we face this global pandemic we must be reminded that environmental protection is more important than money or black gold (oil).
The slowdown in global oil consumption and the collapse of the price of oil means that less oil is being purchased or refined yet our wells continue to extract. Trinidad has an aging infrastructure, and there is limited storage capacity. We ask where are we storing this oil?
FFOS suspects that Heritage Petroleum will be hard-pressed to find additional storage for all of its unsold oil and that the Ministry of Energy will be forced to use all available Tanks, (even the poorly maintained or condemned Tanks from the Pointe-a-Pierre Tank Farm).
The public must be reminded that on April 23rd 2017, Tank 70 erupted and spilled approximately 126,000 barrels of oil which crossed international waters and were suspected to have reached all the way to the Gulf of Mexico contaminating many islands of the Caribbean Sea. This said Tank 70 was one of the twelve (12) condemned tanks listed in a 2003 official report titled “Tank Integrity Assessment for Petrotrin- An initial study at the Pointe-à-Pierre Refinery produced by Shell Global Solutions” (document attached). We were lucky that PM Keith Rowley’s compensation “nightmare” for these oil spills has not yet come to pass.
This Shell Report clearly warned that twelve Tanks in this Tank Farm should be not be used. Are these condemned Tanks currently being used to store excess oil?
FFOS appeal to the Honourable Minister of Energy, Mr. Franklyn Khan to err on the side of caution and be responsible.
These condemned tanks should not be permitted to store any type of hydrocarbon whatsoever!
FFOS will not stand idle and call on the environmental protection agencies to take firm action and be guided that every drop of spilled hydrocarbon has an everlasting impact on human health and the environment.
Annually we celebrate our Earth Day while we sit by and watch the destruction of our beloved mother……earth
Today Earth Day, let us make a difference.
Sincerely,
Gary Aboud
Corporate Secretary