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The EPA’s duty is to safeguard Guyana’s environment and citizens’ interests, not dilute operators’ obligations

Dec 25, 2024 Letters

Dear Editor,

The EPA’s December 22nd response to Dr Vincent Adams’ criticisms reflects poorly on its oversight role. Instead of addressing his substantive arguments, the EPA attempts to diminish his credibility through political labelling, disregarding his decades of environmental and engineering expertise.

The EPA’s parsing of “adequate” versus “unlimited” liability ignores both Justice Kissoon’s clear High Court ruling and its own selective omission of key permit text – “if EEPGL or its Co-Venturers fail to do so.” Their touted $2 billion liability floor misses the fundamental point: Guyanese citizens need absolute protection against environmental disaster costs, not arbitrary caps.

For some amount of assurance, it would be helpful if they could respond to the following critical questions arising from Article 28 of the 2016 Petroleum Agreement:

  1. Has the EPA published any comprehensive standards for offshore petroleum operations in the eight years since signing?
  2. What constitutes “reasonable notice” before ministerial intervention in pollution cleanup under Article 28.6?
  3. Has it done or commissioned any independent assessment to evaluate whether the Agreement’s environmental provisions adequately protect Guyana, given today’s massive operational scale?
  4. How does the EPA reconcile its stance with Article 28.4’s requirement for “all reasonable measures…to remedy” pollution?
  5. What specific standards and protocols ensure compliance with Article 28.3’s environmental protection requirements?
  6. Should the EPA not prioritise developing clear environmental standards over semantic debates about guarantee language?

As an observer of Guyana’s oil sector, I find it troubling that our environmental regulator advocates for weaker rather than stronger protections. The EPA’s duty is to safeguard Guyana’s environment and citizens’ interests, not dilute operators’ obligations through creative interpretation.

Sincerely,

Christopher Ram

Oil and Gas columnist

(The EPA’s duty is to safeguard Guyana’s environment and citizens’ interests, not dilute operators’ obligations)

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