Following the circulation of a video on social media depicting an unidentified substance on the surface of Guyana’s offshore waters, Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Kemraj Parsram told OilNOW that investigations are being carried out to ascertain what the material really is. In fact, the EPA Head has gone offshore to investigate the matter while noting that he is coordinating with the Ministry of Agriculture’s Fisheries Department on collecting a sample of the black substance for testing.
Parsram said, “…I am also going out on a chopper today to conduct surveillance of the area in question. In the meantime, I have a team of staff members working on satellite imagery over the past few days to see what occurred in the area. I am also coordinating with the Civil Defence Commission and its Oil Spill Committee on this matter.”
The EPA head at the time of publication was still offshore. In the interim, a statement from the EPA noted today that it is “doing everything possible to get to the bottom of this.”
In an exclusive interview with OilNOW last week, Parsram said it is crucial for the public to understand that the EPA is taking several measures to ensure there is proper monitoring of the respective sectors. He cautioned that systems will be put in place to ensure the EPA has all the capabilities at its fingertips to regulate the respective industries.
The industry regulator had last week issued a statement saying it is developing and will soon launch a remote real-time monitoring system and platform to monitor permitted facilities and level of compliance with key environmental parameters. In this regard, the EPA said it is in the process of bolstering its monitoring and assessment capability by procuring modern and state of art measurement equipment/instruments and analyses tools to take accurate measurements and to make credible assessments of impacts of pollutants in air, water, and land.
The EPA had said this is a basic capability of any environmental regulatory agency that has to provide trustworthy and timely assessments of risks and corrective actions.
OilNOW understands that the agency currently utilizes drone technology and has amplified the use of GIS and other digital technology for remote monitoring.
