The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

RUBIS (Bahamas) yesterday said the company had spent “several million dollars” to-date to remediate the fuel leak at its Robinson Road gas station, pledging it would “spare no cost” to protect public health and safety.

Gordon Craig, managing director for RUBIS in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands, said the company was “going beyond what is required”.

“We’re going beyond what is required because our primary commitment is to ensure the public health and the environment is protected,” he added.

“We have spent several million dollars, but we cannot put a ceiling to say $8, $10 or $15 million. The remediation in ongoing. Whatever is required, we are spending the money.”

   RUBIS entered the Bahamian market in mid-2012, after it bought Chevron’s fuels marketing and aviation businesses in the Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Turks & Caicos via its Vitogaz subsidiary.

  Mr Craig would not say whether RUBIS had seen its sales impacted by the ongoing controversy over the fuel leak, but admitted that it is “a situation we do not like”.

“It is negative that we have had a spill at a service station. As it is our responsibility as a good corporate citizen, we will take whatever action to fix that and to reassure the public that we run an effective business and that health and safety is paramount,” said Mr Craig.

    According to the BEST Commission, the fuel release at the Robinson Road Station was observed in late December 2012 by operator Fiorente Management, and reported to Rubis on January 19, 2013.

Black and Veatch was contracted by the Government in 2013 to ensure that the actions taken by Rubis Bahamas to address the release were appropriate to protect public health and adequately remediate the environment.

The report was completed on February 20, 2014 and only recently released. The report confirmed that elevated levels of benzene, a cancer-causing compound in gasoline, was found in a residential well in May 2013, and 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.

 RUBIS contends that when it learned of the spill on January 19, 2013, it acted quickly and decisively, sparing no cost in its efforts to investigate and remediate the leak.

The company said it contacted Baychem, a local firm, which began work within five days of RUBIS learning of the spill, and then engaged ARCADIS an international firm, for remediation work.

Both RUBI’s press conference, and the one held by the Government yesterday, appear designed to head-off bad PR and also pre-empt the Town Meeting held by Marathon residents last night.