By AVA TURNQUEST
Tribune Chief Reporter
aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
SENATOR Michael Pintard yesterday called for an independent review of the government’s actions following the 2012 underground gasoline leak at the Robinson and Old Trail Roads service station to determine whether there was criminal negligence.
Mr Pintard, chairman of the opposition Free National Movement (FNM), criticised the government for keeping Marathon residents in the dark for more than two years, adding that the decision to release an independent report more than a year after it was completed was a “face-saving measure to cover their tails”.
He pointed out that last week’s town meeting on the issue was held after he accused the government of dereliction of duty in the Senate that same week.
“The minister of health, the minister of the environment, the attorney general – who would have had responsibility of providing the government with legal advice – and the (area) MP, those four persons in particular should really be held responsible for dereliction of duty,” he said.
“There ought to be an independent group established to evaluate whether government acted appropriately given the concerns raised by one private company and some residents.”
“It should be established by Prime Minister (Perry Christie) to evaluate whether or not the government is culpable in this matter.”
Mr Pintard explained that the committee should be independent of the attorney general, who is a sitting Cabinet member.
According to the BEST Commission, the fuel release was observed in late December 2012 by operator Fiorente Management, and reported to Rubis on January 19, 2013.
It was previously reported that the gasoline leak was estimated to be around 30,000 gallons; however, at last Thursday’s meeting BEST Director Philip Weech said variance records approximated the release of 12,000 gallons of unleaded gasoline.
Black and Veatch International (BVI) was contracted by the government in 2013 to ensure that the actions taken by station owner Rubis Bahamas to address the release were appropriate to protect public health and adequately remediate the environment.
The report was completed February 20, 2014, but it was only released after public outcry at a town meeting on Thursday, despite numerous requests from the media for the document.
The report confirmed that elevated levels of benzene, a cancer-causing compound in gasoline, was found in a residential well in May 2013, but ultimately concluded that assessments conducted by Rubis were insufficient and could not be used to determine whether residential and commercial building occupants were exposed to contamination associated with the fuel release.
The cancer-causing compound was also found in air samples taken by Cable Bahamas’ contractor in early 2013, according to the report.
“Benzene was detected in all building air samples at concentrations exceeding the EPA non-resident screening level,” the report says, referring to standards set by the US’ Environmental Protection Agency.
“Three of five ambient air samples also exceeded the screening level. This suggests that occupants were exposed to concentrations of benzene exceeding an acceptable exposure level.”
Cable Bahamas is suing Rubis and former operator Fiorente Management for up to $15 million in damages, alleging that their “negligence” resulted in its property, mainly its customer service building, being contaminated by the 2012 gasoline leak.
Mr Pintard added: “I find it mind-boggling that the government would have done that to residents, that they would have kept this a secret. Their concern is also litigation but even more so you should follow the recommendations of any report, let people make their own decisions.
“That is damning,” he said, “that it has been out there for that length of time and they have done nothing.”
He added: “The two-story building opposite the service station lost tenants as a result of the health scare, the owner could not get insurance. But the government was not remedying any of those concerns that the tenants would have had. If the report showed no potential adverse effect for that particular area, perhaps the tenants would have stayed, perhaps the insurance company would have approved coverage.”
Residents have claimed that they received no information about the results of tests conducted at their homes prior to Thursday’s town meeting.
At the meeting, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Delon Brennen explained that no health assessments were conducted because the Ministry of Health did not have the technical capacity to administer such tests.
Yesterday, Mr Pintard said: “Even if they lacked the capacity, they had access to resources, this is the argument they are making at Clifton, that they hired one of the best companies that deal with issues related to oil spill. So no, that argument falls flat. It’s a disingenuous argument.
“They didn’t know environmentalists would be there at the second meeting to ask the tough questions. This is disconcerting, you can’t say you care about people when their health is at risk.”
Comments
TalRussell 8 years, 12 months ago
Comrades' I'm sorry, but the response from the Official Opposition is sickening weak, with one official opposition party member - calling for a "simple apology" from government. The hiding of this damaging report begs the answer, where in the hell were the People's Elected MP's and "hopefully only paid by taxpayers" Civil Servant Officials, who did NOTHING to help reduce the risk of potential health risks to residents? These most disturbing actions beg for answers of possible across the board criminal implications, not a simply apology. Is there any wonder, why the present leadership prevents the official opposition party from gaining any noticeable traction with voters. It sure appears any report taking a year to be disclosed, and only after serious damaging questions were being asked, it is reasonable for reasonable-minded people to be suspicious of any reasons why, and if, it may have led to a cover-up and if so, who may have ordered it? It is as unconscionable as the health risk present, that Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition would think a simple "review" is sufficient for dealing with a health-risk to the public in a report kept secret for a year.
Tommy77 8 years, 12 months ago
Agreed.
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B_I_D___ 8 years, 12 months ago
Notice how Rubis was offering compensation packages BEFORE the report was officially released? Try to get those waiver forms signed before the crap hits the fan!!
DonAnthony 8 years, 12 months ago
Unfortunately our courts in this case seem to be dysfunctional and practically useless, but it seems clear that the govt in not releasing the report and warning vulnerable citizens are liable and certainly rubis seems liable for potentially millions of dollars. If govt and rubis were forced to pay million dollar settlements to these families then there would be action and accountability. There are seemingly no ramifications so the govt hides, rubis dodges and defenseless people suffer.
DonAnthony 8 years, 12 months ago
I for one, will never buy gas from rubis again, if outraged bahamians did the same, Rubis would act differently and these citizens might get some remediation.
ted4bz 8 years, 12 months ago
Great if not buying fuel from RUBiS would make a difference but there are many other people who don't care about the issues will keep the station open simply because there are more of them than us. Besides there are only three fuel supplier Esso-Exxon, SunOil-Shell and RUBiS-Chevron and the three supply all the fuel to BEC that it can afford to keep our lights on. I don't think 1k of us topping-off at RUBiS will make much difference.
ted4bz 8 years, 12 months ago
nuce that some of us are making some noise concerning the RUBiS government report.
What is happening to the people of Marathon is not confined to the people of Marathon but the entire island of New Providence.
The chemical containments can not be removed from the water, changed, destroyed, nor controlled. For the amount of fuel dispersed into the water table (by accident) this means the chemicals are there for a long long time.
Please note that the chemicals are not stationary. Water is the vehicle of the contaminants and the contaminants spreads out further and further in a radius of one mile every 10 years (this includes moving through lime stone rock. All this info is online).
This means the whole island is in danger and all of us should take caution.
ted4bz 8 years, 12 months ago
If you haven't found the B&V RUBiS Report yet here is the link: http://issuu.com/ministryofehbahamas/...">http://issuu.com/ministryofehbahamas/...
TalRussell 8 years, 12 months ago
Comrade Ted4bz this is not the only "health hazard report" the government has kept under the clock of secrecy. Yet, the official opposition party is demanding but a review. I just dont know, no I just don't know about this red leader Minnis, cuz he walks up to the line against the PLP cabinet's every scandal, but then at the last moment, he backs down. Minnis has backed down every single time at the very last moment. The last moment when he could have made a decisive step to bring the government to its damn political knees. Minnis must know that when you play around with the peoples health that it is about as recklessly stupid as any government could possibly tread, yet he has red shirts calling for the PLP cabinet to simply apologize. Give me a damn break. No, we can all do better, give the people a real opposition party leader, with the political bullocks - never to back down from a fight.
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