By Chantalé Fletcher
MARINE life may be affected as crude oil deposits wash onto the shore and in the waters of Granville Bay and St Ann’s Bay in Cedros.
Councillor for Cedros Shankar Teelucksingh expressed his concerns about this, “very serious” situation.
Speaking to AZPNews.com on Tuesday evening, Teelucksingh said, he received a call from local contractors who were on their way to assist in the clean-up operations.
He said between March 3 and 4, several fishermen had spotted traces of oil, and Cansorb – a chemical used to clean oil, on the shore which stretched about half a mile.
Teelucksingh said, “Heritage Petroleum indicated there was no oil spill on their installations so they were in the process of fingerprinting the oil to identify where the oil was coming from.”
He added that the oil spill could cause serious damage to marine and environmental life.
“There was a reef along the Granville Point which goes out to sea and there was a lot of shellfish and other small marine life that will be affected.”
Meanwhile, a former employee of Petrotrin Tony Bedassie said oil spills on the Granville and St Ann’s beaches were regular occurrences.
Bedassie said, “Whenever it spills, they simply disperse the cansorbs which sink the oil to the bottom of the sea, and bring it up but then washes ashore. However, when it comes to shore, it stays right there causing a buildup which becomes a serious threat to the crabs, conchs and other marine life.”
He said bioremediation should be used in this instance.
Bedassie said this was where oil was removed to an area upon which bacteria is used to break it down into an environmentally friendly substance.
