Former EPA Director slams Govt. for putting Exxon’s pockets above safety of citizens

Apr 06, 2024 Court Stories, ExxonMobil, Features / Columnists, News, Oil & Gas

“How could they be fighting against the people asking for Exxon, who is gonna be making hundreds of billions probably even trillions…we are getting 14.5% they are getting 85.5% they are making all of this money and just to ask them to cover any liability from an oil spill, what is so unreasonable about that?” – Dr. Vincent Adams

Kaieteur News – The recent move by the Government of Guyana (GoG) to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to appeal a ruling, blocking it from joining with ExxonMobil to fight against citizens for an unlimited parent company guarantee to protect the country from all oil spill costs has been roundly condemned.

Former EPA Director, Dr. Vincent Adams

Former Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr. Vincent Adams said the move is a reckless act. Dr. Adams a Petroleum and Environmental Engineer during an Alliance For Change (AFC) press conference on Friday told reporters, “I do not believe and I don’t think that any Guyanese would believe that this government is so rabid to go against its own people.”

He said that the recent oil spill just off the coasts of Tobago was a good lesson for the government, though it is just a small incident compared to the damage that could be done in Guyana. “It’s about 30,000 to 35,000 barrels of oil or fuel that was leaked and we can see the devastation that was caused in Tobago and we can see the issues that its even causing the Tobago government in terms of who is liable for covering that cost but here we have within the next year or so, we will be having one ship travelling through the Caribbean with a million barrels- not 35,000, one million barrels of oil every single day,” the former EPA boss elaborated.

Dr. Adams also pointed out that a spill can be caused due to a blow out at the wells but government is more concerned about protecting the pockets of Exxon than its country.

He reasoned, “How could they be fighting against the people asking for Exxon, who is gonna be making hundreds of billions probably even trillions…we are getting 14.5% they are getting 85.5% they are making all of this money and just to ask them to cover any liability from an oil spill, what is so unreasonable about that?”

The Engineer continued, “They don’t care whether it devastates our economy because that is what’s gonna happen, we will go bankrupt because we cannot cover (those costs). For example, the British Petroleum Spill cost US$145B. The entire Caribbean would be wiped out with the fisheries and the tourism, etcetera so I cannot believe that they are going down this direction of fighting against its own people.”

On Friday this newspaper reported that the GoG secretly moved to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) over a month ago in a bid to reverse the decision of the local Appeal Court blocking the state from fighting against the citizens of Guyana, seeking an unlimited parent company guarantee from ExxonMobil to cover all oil spill costs.

The application was filed since February 29, 2024 by the Attorney General (AG) and Legal Affairs Minister of Guyana, Anil Nandlall, SC. Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and citizens Godfrey Whyte and Frederick Collins, along with Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (now ExxonMobil Guyana Limited) are the named respondents in the matter that will be heard before CCJ Judges Justice A Saunders, President, Justice W Anderson and Mme Justice Maureen Rajnauth-Lee.

The Court of Appeal on December 19, 2023, unanimously rejected the application by Nandlall to join the case of two Guyanese to get ExxonMobil to furnish the nation with unlimited liability coverage for oil spills. The Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the submissions made by Seenath Jairam ,SC, leading Ms Melinda Janki and Mrs. Abiola Wong-Innings on behalf of Collins and Whyte, strenuously objecting to the joinder of the Attorney-General. The Attorney-General had sought to join the side of Exxon Guyana which opposed the orders made by High Court Judge, Justice Sandil Kissoon for there to be a full coverage for all oil spill costs. Jairam, SC made a number of legal arguments as to why the AG should not be allowed to join but in particular pointed out that the Attorney-General has no place in judicial review proceedings – a legal position that has now been judicially endorsed by the Court of Appeal.

The Collins and Whyte case is currently in the Court of Appeal following the internationally renowned and historic decision by Justice Sandil Kissoon on May 3, 2023. The High Court Judge had ordered the EPA to obtain from Exxon Guyana, environmental liability insurance as is customary in the petroleum industry and an unlimited parent company guarantee to cover all costs of an oil spill, in accordance with the environmental permit issued to Exxon Guyana.

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