NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Environmentalists have filed an application in the Supreme Court to discontinue a judicial review of the government’s approvals for Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) to drill an exploratory well in Bahamian waters.
The consent order filed yesterday requests that the judicial review action is discontinued and that each party bears its own costs.
In January, Save the Bays and Waterkeeper Bahamas requested the review to confirm whether BPC had attained all of the necessary permits and approvals under the law to carry out exploratory offshore drilling and to have the courts establish the proper, lawful procedure for projects of this kind going forward.
In a statement on the decision, the two advocacy groups branded the judicial review challenge a “huge success” in sparking global awareness and sending a strong warning to others that would seek to pursue a similar venture in the future.
Rashema Ingraham, executive director of Waterkeeper Bahamas, noted the enormous attention that the legal case drew to issues surrounding oil drilling in The Bahamas in general, both locally and abroad.
STB legal director Fred Smith, QC, lamented the fact that environmentalists continue to be priced out of justice by the government and developers ganging up on environmental activists and small business owners.
Smith said the challenge nevertheless put oil companies on notice that they must respect and adhere to all legal and regulatory requirements if they want to operate in The Bahamas.
“Whether you are Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) or any other entity, consider yourself duly warned: The Bahamas has a strong, outspoken environmental activist community that will aggressively challenge any project if it appears that the procedures mandated by law might not have been followed,” he said.
Smith insisted that BPC went ahead with its exploratory drilling before certain questions could be determined by the court.
In early February, BPC reported that drilling had ceased on the Perseverance #1 well, with the well permanently plugged and abandoned after commercial quantities of oil were not found.
“With that ship having already sailed, so to speak, we then offered to streamline the matter, as it had become impossible because of KYC challenges to set up the Security ordered by the court, to focus on the all-important second question of proper procedure and which laws apply to oil drilling,” Smith added.
“However, BPC were unwilling to cooperate and so we had no choice but to accept their counter-offer that all parties mutually agree to bring the case to an end.
“But make no mistake, this challenge was a huge success. BPC and any other company that may be seeking oil drilling licenses in Bahamian territory now know that they will be carefully scrutinized every step of the way.”
In March, the environmental groups involved in judicial review proceedings were ordered to pay $200,000 as security for costs within the next 30 days to proceed.
BPC, which was added to proceedings in January as an interested party that carried out the exploratory oil drilling, sought security for costs in the sum of $200,000.
The applicants opposed BPC’s application on the basis that they were fundraising to finance the judicial review.
Smith sought to underscore yesterday why the environmental groups were forced to agree to end the case, noting that it was meant to be an inspection of a decision-making process undertaken by the government, and was not intended to take a long time or be particularly costly for any of the parties involved.
BPC has said that while its first exploration well did not result in the discovery of commercial quantities of oil in The Bahamas, it intends to exercise its right to renew four of its licenses, which will allow for another three-year period for oil exploration.
