NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Local environmentalists yesterday urged the government to do “everything in its power” to protect this nation’s ocean resources while calling for a thorough investigation and plan to address an oil spill in waters near Exuma.
Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper, the Exuma and Ragged Island MP said yesterday that some 30,000 gallons of oil spilled in Exuma between Tuesday and Wednesday morning when a vessel – The Arabian – contracted by Sun Oil was offloading fuel for Bahamas Power and Light in the area of the Old Navy Base, in George Town.
Sam Duncombe, reEarth’s president said: “What an epic tragedy in our country. This will have a massive impact on the ocean and the animals that call it home. One has to wonder with the availability of solar, and tidal power why we continue to bring in oil.
“Just follow the money greasing on both sides of the political divide continues to hold the country hostage to this highly polluting form of energy. What we need is less talk about moving towards renewables and more action. We’ve been hearing that sorry song for over 20 years.
She added: “An investigation into the spill needs to be conducted to determine the cause, and to immediately put in protocols to address the problem. And I certainly hope SunOil is paying for the clean up.”
Joe Darville, Chairman of Save The Bays and Director of Waterkeepers Bahamas said: “This reminds me of the Equinor incident which was far more oil than what is being reported with this incident and it took them four days to have any sort of resources to begin to clean up. We have been telling government after government that we have too much of a precious environment.
“The ocean is key to our survival and we need to have all contingencies at hand in times like these. We Have to do everything in our power to protect our ocean for future generations. I’m hoping that the oil company had some immediate contingency plan.”
Darville added: “As a country we are not prepared to deal with oil spills. Maybe this is help to warn us to get your act together. As environmentalists we have been preaching this for years. We cannot so casually allow entities to come here and have things like this happen. We have a lot of learn.”
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