According to Cayman Islands Department of Environment's Deputy Director for Operations Scott Slayburgh, gasoline and diesel are high in toxicity as they react with oxygen. Although they dissipate relatively quickly, while they are in the water they can do a lot of damage. Any life form, from a fish or microscopic organism that lingers in it may die or suffer a multitude of effects from exposure.
Our island economy is dependent on tourism which is also very much dependent on the beaches and inland water ways (Oyster Pond, Simpson Bay Lagoon, and Mullet Bay Pond) as well – our environment. Our environment plays a key role in our nation's economic success as well as the quality of life of our people.
One of the priority areas of our national parliament come post-10-10-10 should be to set up a Permanent Environmental Committee to assess our nation's readiness for an oil spill. The environmental catastrophe unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico at this time is a wake up call for all Caribbean nations who do not have an oil spill contingency plan already in place along with the necessary equipment; and regular trainings for responders.
Many Caribbean nations if not all, are party to conventions that require it to have oil spill cleanup capability. The "International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation 1990," obligates countries to have a reasonable ability to respond to marine oil spills, and those islands that are prepared, they will be able to minimise damage from an oil spill. Under international conventions, there are also provisions for governments to be reimbursed and payments not only for the oil clean up, but for private business losses and environmental restoration.
The Gulf oil spill has gotten the attention of a number of government agencies in the region and as far as Bermuda. Dr. Karl Aiken, senior lecturer in the University of the West Indies' Life Sciences Department in Jamaica, is of the opinion that should the oil reach Jamaica it could have disastrous effects on Jamaica's already depleted fish stock.
Aiken, a marine specialist says through a network of loops and streams, the oil may wend its way along the US Eastern seaboard before reaching Bermuda, but first it would have to cross the Florida Keys getting caught into the Gulf Stream. A feeder current would then take it from Bermuda, towards the Bahamas, and possibly, to Jamaica through the passage separating Cuba and Haiti.
Bermuda has already started to mobilise an Emergency Task Force comprising of persons from the Institute of Ocean Science, Conservation Services, Marine & Ports and the Department of Environmental Protection, to discuss Bermuda's response.
Bermuda's Environmental Protection Director Fred Ming has already travelled to Louisiana and met with scientists. It was concluded that the oil may reach Bermuda in some form – tar balls. One model had it heading towards Bermuda by early September.
Closer to us, Mark Walters, Head of the US Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency, agrees with an assessment of the US National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that the Gulf oil slick won't impact the US Virgin Islands because of the way the ocean currents go. This is also good news for us as well and a reassurance since Sint Maarten is only approximately 120 miles from the USVI territories.
The Gulf oil spill is threatening not only marine life, but the livelihood of thousands of people along the Gulf coast states. This is a turning point for Caribbean nations including Sint Maarten. In a post-country status Sint Maarten, the issue of the environment needs to be one of the top issues to be dealt with by our parliament and council of ministers.
"Treat the Earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." Native American Indian quote
Roddy Heyliger
