Tobago oil spill near Port jetty contained
SCARBOROUGH, Tobago
Trinidad Express
Petroleumworldtt.com
17 10 08
An oil spill that occurred near the new Scarborough Jetty extension on Thursday night was finally contained by officials from various environmental organisations yesterday.
The oil spill was discovered around 9.45 p.m. at the Scarborough Port, and covered an area of 2,157 square metres, officials said.
Public Relations Officer of the Tobago branch of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Alex Brown said the oil spill was restricted to a small area. Coast Guard Officials and members of the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment in the Tobago House of Assembly were contacted as well.
NEMA was aided by crews from two fishing vessels, the Superstition and Euodoo, who worked together to ensure that the slick was contained. Work was also coordinated with the terminal manager of the Scarborough Port, Kenneth Richardson.
"What we would have done is contained the spill to a small area, to ensure there was not much damage to the marine environment," Brown told the Express yesterday.
"Containment and sorbent booms were deployed to facilitate the control and absorption of the slick. Even though clean-up efforts were being done in the waters at the Scarborough Port, there were no delays in the arrival and departure of the inter-island ferries, as the T&T Express was able to dock at the Scarborough Port on Friday."
Brown said the sorbent booms were recovered later and were prepared for disposal.
The port returned to normalcy yesterday.
Director of the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment Nela Bobb-Prescott said according to initial reports, there has been no evidence to suggest that there was oil contamination of any wildlife. She added that the department will continue to investigate the matter.
The cause of the spill is still being determined. Two vessels, the Sea Spray Kingstown and Chief Port of Spain are currently docked at the Scarborough Port.
By
Elizabeth W Allard, Tobago Bureau of Trinidad
& Tobago Express
Trinidad
Express
Saturday, November 15th 2008
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