T&T oil spills might be sabotage

Several oil spills in South Trinidad could have been caused by sabotage. 

The spills have affected residents in La Brea and surrounding areas. At least 25 people had to seek medical attention for the effects of the spill and one of them is reported to have been kept in hospital for treatment of an asthmatic condition.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar told reporters on Saturday that State-owned Petrotrin is conducting an investigation to determine if sabotage was behind the problem.

She was responding to questions about an inland oil spill at Petrotrin's exploration operations at Rancho Quemado. It's the fifth oil spill in South Trinidad since Tuesday.

The Prime Minister said Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine spoke with her Saturday about the matter. 

"He advised that Petrotrin is investigating a possible sabotage," she stated but added that "it would not be appropriate to blame anyone". However she said "the nature of it seems to indicate that there may be some sabotage and therefore that needs to be investigated before we can say anything further.”

Earlier in the day Petrotrin's president Khalid Hassanali announced at a media confirmed that that there was an oil to flow from tanks on land at operations in Rancho Quemado.

"One of our lease operators, Trinity Oil, discovered a number of valves opened overnight allowing oil to flow out of the tanks. The oil spilled out into the land," Hassanali said. "They do morning checks of wells. And this morning check, to their horror, there was oil all over the place and upon further investigation it was discovered that a number of the valves attached to the tanks were opened.”  He said it was not normal for oil to be flowing out of tanks.

“The clean-up will take days and especially if that oil gets into water courses. Crude oil floats, hydrocarbon floats on water and therefore the consequences to persons, communities and wildlife can be disastrous,” he added.

Hassanali said it appears that between 80 and 100 barrels of oil spilled. He hinted at sabotage but was careful not to prejudice any investigation.

Petrotrin is boosting its air and land surveillance. The Guardian newspaper quoted Ramnarine as saying the company would continue to revise its whole security arrangements to include the installation of cameras on Petrotrin’s land exploration fields and at the Trinmar acreage and the purchase of remote controlled aircraft with cameras.