B.N.E.: Spanish Lookout reservoir clear of oil

Belize Natural Energy continued its damage control efforts today, releasing a copy of a letter from Belize Water Services regarding possible contamination to Spanish Lookout’s water reservoir. In the document Chief Operation Officer Frederick Sandiford informs B.N.E. Chief Executive Officer Dr. Gilbert Canton that lab tests conducted on samples from the two ponds showed that there was no oil contamination. B.W.S. does not have the necessary equipment, so the samples were tested at the Belize Brewing Company’s Water and Wastewater Lab at mile ten on the Northern Highway. One week ago, oil well Michael Usher number two experienced a mechanical malfunction which resulted in a fine mist of oil and water spreading downwind from the site, including the reservoir. Community leaders told News Five that the water, which is used by the community’s chicken processing plant, was tainted with oil, igniting health and safety concerns.

In related news, today the Department of the Environment released its report on the oil spill in Spanish Lookout claiming that their investigations show that the estimated “quantity of oil liberated on nearby vegetation and buildings was approximately three to five gallons.” While the D.O.E. fails to address the issue of the absence of an Environmental Impact Assessment report for the site, the government department says “this incident has prompted all relevant authorities and agencies to work in tandem to modify the existing oil spill action plans and develop a far more comprehensive emergency plan that would prevent or mitigate any oil spillage.” On Thursday, C.E.O. Canton contended while an E.I.A. was not in place for the company drill sites, B.N.E. had submitted environmental and emergency plan documents to G.O.B. in April 2006.