Cape Bay:---On Saturday July 17th, 2010 at 2pm St. Maarten Pride Foundation received a call from its partner organization Nature Foundation informing the Foundation that an Oil Spill had taken place in the Cay Bay/Cole Bay area.
Upon the Foundations' arrival in Cay Bay the Foundations realized that SOL's Oil Storage facility was the source of the spill. SOL's manager Mr. David Antrobus and a staff member were observed making an effort to clean-up the beach and to prevent additional oil from entering the Bay. Based on information received from vessels in the area, concerned Cay Bay residents and an inspection of the Beach it was determined that a significant Oil Spill had taken place sometime during the course of Saturday morning.
Late last month Pride Foundation met with the Fire Department, SOL Antilles, GEBE, the SHTA, Nature Foundation, EPIC and others to discuss Oil-spill response. During the meeting it was agreed upon that those present would seek to work together to prevent oil spills and to mitigate the effects of any spills that may still take place, St. Maarten Pride Foundation is therefore very much disappointed that SOL's management did not contact the Foundations to inform them of-, and request assistance with clean-up efforts this past Saturday.
The constant Oil Spills at GEBE's power plant and SOL's facilities in Cay Bay and the Simpson Bay Lagoon point towards serious infrastructural and organizational problems at both companies. Pride Foundation has repeatedly urged St. Maarten's major Oil stakeholders to invest in Oil Spill Response material and training for their staff. The necessity of this training on St. Maarten was made appallingly evident some two weeks ago after a large oil spill at GEBE's power plant in Cay Bay when workers wearing no protective gear of any sort entered the oil filled waters, in attempts to clean the oil, and were subsequently covered in it from head to toe.
Government's and in particular the Commissioner in charge of Environmental affairs' apparent indifference and failure to publicly address these matters is allowing the spills to continue.
The Foundation once again urges government to inspect GEBE's and SOL's facilities, to require these and similar companies to provide relevant training to their staff and to have sufficient Oil Spill Response material available.
The Foundation also encourages the aforementioned companies to take their corporate responsibilities seriously. Pride Foundation will continue to monitor the situation.
Nature Foundation responds to yet another oil spill, videos posted on YouTube.
The Nature Foundation received a call from a concerned resident in Pelican regarding another oil spill coming from the Cay Bay area. Contact was immediately made with the Coastguard and other law enforcement authorities regarding the spill and Nature Foundation Staff responded to the site. EPIC and St. Maarten Pride Foundations were also informed of the spill. It was determined that the spill originated at SOL Antilles.
Site inspections concluded that due to the heavy rain this weekend and poorly maintained oil containment facilities SOL Antilles experienced an overflow of oil and a significant amount leaked into the ocean. During patrols using the Nature Foundation vessel Yellowtail an oil slick of approximately 1.5 kilometres was found. Prevailing wind conditions prevented the oil from drifting onshore and damaging Nature Foundation Installations, which were already damaged by the GEBE oil spill on July 3rd. SOL Antilles staff were busy cleaning up the spill late into Saturday.
The resident who contacted the Nature Foundation concerning the oil spill has posted video of the event on YouTube. The videos can be seen by clicking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMTziY307XA&NR=1. If the public notices any additional oil spills or any unusual events related to the environment contact the Nature Foundation at 5444268 or on 5270490.
