By
Petre Williams
Sunday
Observer Reporter
Kingston/Caribbean
sea
Petroleumworld.com
02 26 06
JAMAICA'S chief environmental watchdog sees danger ahead for
fishing grounds and marine life on the south coast from the
oil and gas exploration offshore, but its power to police it
is constrained by an omission in the law.
MCCAULAY. fears impact on turtles, whales and dolphins
Legally,
there is nothing to compel the explorers to seek a permit.
Instead, the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA)
is negotiating compliance to some 30 conditions to be imposed
on Fugro, the Dutch firm contracted to do the seismic survey,
which Jamaican energy officials hope will signal strong reserves
of oil in commercially viable quantities.
"While
this operation currently does not fall under our permitting
and licensing regulations, the agency still retains the legal
mandate for environmental management in Jamaica, and any operation,
once there is a possibility for environmental impact, can be
reviewed by this agency under the authority of the NRCA Act,"
said NEPA's marine expert Peter Wilson-Kelly.
In
the toughest language yet to emanate from the agency, whose
regulatory powers can be overridden by ministerial order, Wilson-Kelly,
who heads NEPA's integrated watershed and coastal management
branch, said there would be no rubber-stamping of government's
plans on this project.
"Not
because the government wants it means that we are going to run
head on into this," said the marine expert.
"There is a right way for things to be done and the right
way is to ensure that due consideration is given to all the
things that could be impacted by this effort and that the necessary
mitigations that can prevent these impacts are thoroughly researched
and implemented."
Fishermen from the Pedro Cays question Reuben Aldrich Jr (right),
representative of Fugro, the company now conducting seismic
surveys in the hunt for oil off Jamaica's south coast, about
the implications of the survey activities on their fishing grounds.
The map shows where the seismic activity will be concentrated.
(Photo: PCJ)
The
Ministry of Land and Environment says it is taking steps to
plug the gap in the law, which its specialists and technocrats
discovered only two months ago during the process of approvals
for the oil search.
But environmental lobbyists are impatient of such oversights,
seeing it as yet another example of government's lip service
to environmental issues.
"This
is a grave oversight and should immediately be rectified,"
said Diana McCaulay, executive director of the Jamaica Environment
Trust.
The ministry said the process is already underway, based on
a recommendation from Wilson-Kelly, following Fugro's application
for survey approval last December.
"It
is proposed to include this category in the permit and licences
regulations and this will be completed shortly," said Leonie
Barnaby, a senior director in the ministry.
Until
then, NEPA has invoked the category of 'other' in the law to
negotiate its 30 conditions with Fugro.
The Dutch company, reputed to be among the largest seismic contractors
globally, has been hired by Australians Finder Exploration PTY
Limited, which has put up US$3 million to fully finance the
surveys under agreement with Jamaica, through the Petroleum
Corporation of Jamaica.
Fugro
has about six months to complete its work and has already began
collecting data from aboard the Akademik Shatskiy, a Russian
ship it hired for the job.
NEPA
wants to be able to place observers on the ship - to be drawn
from the Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard and the Fisheries
Division, a unit of the Ministry of Agriculture - to ensure
minimal disturbance of marine life and to safeguard the thriving
and traditional fishing industry along the Pedro Banks.
"If
we find economically exploitable resources there, then that
would be a boom for the country, so it is incumbent on all of
us to ensure that the effort is allowed," he said, "but
at the same time . ensuring that the environmental implications
are eliminated and that the social implications are dealt with."
Other international observers are aboard the ship, monitoring
the marine life.
NEPA
has mapped out a 'safe zone' that bounds the survey activities.
And its conditions also stipulate that all care be taken by
Fugro to avoid direct contact with marine mammals and mitigate
sea pollution, while preserving the interests of fishers through
a series of guidelines and a system of consultations.
There
have been a series of meetings - including one on February 8
- involving fishers and the Fisheries Division, PCJ, the surveyors,
Maritime Authority of Jamaica, and the Jamaica National Heritage
Trust, whose interest would be the preservation of any underwater
archaeological finds.
The
matter of compensation for fishers, should the survey disrupt
their business, was a prime focus at the February 8 meeting,
according to Leonie Barnaby, a senior director in the ministry.
"An agreement was brokered at the meeting, which would
allow the surveyors to operate in areas that are not frequented
by fishers until the finer details of the mechanisms of operation
on the (Pedro) Bank can be negotiated," she said.
But
JET says the stipulations do not go far enough to protect Jamaica's
marine interests.
"Studies
on seismic surveys have shown that fish catches have been reduced
dramatically both during and long after surveys have ended,"
said McCaulay, in written comment to the Sunday Observer.
"Surveys have also been known to affect whales, dolphins
and other migratory species, such as turtles."
Marine
biologists have catalogued some approximately 27 marine mammals
in Jamaica's offshore waters.
"These, along with the five species of turtles ... may
be adversely affected by these surveys," said McCaulay.
She
is insistent that whatever the potential gain should Jamaica
strike oil, safeguarding marine life should be a priority over
economic gain.
McCaulay also blasted NEPA for not insisting on an environmental
impact assessment (EIA), which would have assessed the potential
fall-out from an oil strike and suggest measures of mitigation.
"We
have now received a copy of the conditions of operation sent
to the ship, which we understand are still being negotiated,
and we are reviewing these and will make a response to NEPA
as soon as possible," said the enviro-advocate.
"However,
we are worried there will be no time for our concerns to be
heard in time to influence the permissions given."
But Wilson-Kelly has dismissed the EIA as a necessity, saying
NEPA had access to sufficient data on the coastal waters and
knew the dangers that exist.
Barnaby
added that NEPA's conditions for the survey were based on existing
information.
"There are a number of agency references overseas that
issue guidance and regulations to such activities," said
the ministry technocrat.
"The
Australians, Canadians and Mexicans have had this work done
in their jurisdictions and NEPA used this collective information
to generate conditions to guide the implementation of the project
in Jamaica."
Barnaby also insisted that it was in the interest of all parties
to ensure that the environment was protected.
"There
is a reputation for everybody involved and I don't think that
they would want to be associated with any damage to the natural
resources or to the fishermen's livelihood," she said.
williamsp@jamaicaobserver.com
SOME
OF NEPA'S CONDITIONS:
.
Establishment of a safe zone one nautical mile (1.85 kilometres)
from the centre of the seismic survey operations, at all times;
. A buffer zone of not less than 10 km from the Pedro Cays during
the survey operations;
. Local observers from the JDF Coast Guard, NEPA, and Fisheries
Division to monitor activities from the survey ship;
. Delay or diversion of the survey activities in the event that
a sea turtle or whale is seen within the survey area;
. Prohibition of the destruction, removal or tampering with
fish gear or vessels by the survey operators; and
. Three days advance notification of marine interests regarding
world areas and proposed survey lines.
