Petrotrin acknowledges oil spills in Trinidad

Oil spills around Trinidad began to be reported on 17 Dec, suggesting more than one source of contamination.

The state oil company of Trinidad & Tobago, Petrotrin, suggested sabotage and environmental terrorism. The Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) said Petrotrin should shoulder the blame for the disaster, citing poor management practices that resulted in lax security and monitoring, and the lack of oil spill response contingency contracts.

“We do not concur with the company’s offering of the excuse that it is some kind of sabotage or otherwise,” OWTU president general Ancel Roget told a news conference on Sunday. Rather, multiple system failures have resulted in serious pollution to the coastal environment with concomitant health hazards.

Dozens of people have become ill, fishing fleets are grounded, their equipment fouled, and wildlife is covered in oil.

Today, Petrotrin provided a chronology of events. The company said  its "management continues to engage all available resources in the clean-up activities within the affected areas to ensure minimal adverse effects to the communities and the environment"

Chronology of incidents over the period 2013 Dec 17th – 26th

1. Pointe-a-Pierre, 17 Dec, Tuesday -A leak was discovered on the No. 10 Sea Line at the Petrotrin Pointe-a-Pierre Port during fuel oil bunkers loading operations for the barge Marabella. The cause was identified to be a failed chain support not apparently defective during previous routine inspections.
2. Point Fortin, Petrotrin’s marine operations, 17 Dec, Tuesday- A gasket on a 16in.-diameter line on Riser Platform 5 in Main Field area leaked and oil spilled into the sea.
3. La Brea, 18 Dec, Wednesday - Petrotrin received reports of oil at the Coffee Beach/Carrat Shed Beach areas in la Brea, affecting the beach and fishing vessels.
4. Point Fortin, 19 Dec, Thursday - An oil leak was reported in the area of Platform 17 in Petrotrin’s Marine Operations East Field.
5. Rancho Quemado – Erin, 21 Dec, Saturday - Oil leak reported from Lease Operators (to Petrotrin) Trinity Exploration and Production. Two, 3in. bull plugs were discovered removed from two separate wellsite production tanks resulting in about 100bbl of oil being discharged into the environment.
6. Brighton Marine field– 24 Dec, Tuesday - Oil was reported leaking from Well Antilles Brighton Marine (ABM) 151 in the Brighton Marine field, operated by Joint Venture operators (with Petrotrin) Trinity Exploration and Production.
7. Brighton Marine Ffeld– 24 Dec, Tuesday - A second report was received that oil was leaking from a leaking conductor on well ABM 67 on Brighton Marine Platform 3.
8. Moruga, Hudlin Trace, Rock River Village – 26 Dec, Thursday - Residents reported oil flowing down the Marac River in Moruga and emanating from the Moruga West Joint Venture (with Petrotrin) operated by Neal and Massy Energy Resources Ltd. (NMERL). A senior NMERL official indicated in a 27 Dec, Friday newspaper article that “The cause is yet to be ascertained. We are still investigating. It was an old line but in excellent condition.”
9. Pointe-a-Pierre, port and marine facilities, 26 Dec, Thursday - It was observed that No. 15 Sea Line, during the pumping of fuel oil to a tanker, became detached from Main Viaduct and fell into the sea, resulting in a quantity of fuel oil being spilled into the sea. The cause was identified to be a failed chain support not apparently defective during previous routine inspections.

Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine and his team survey the oil spill at La Brea. (Photo from The Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs's Facebook page)

Trinidad's Minister of Energy and Energy Affairs invoked the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP), triggered to Tier 3 level on Sunday, 22 Dec. A national incident command team was established, comprised of representatives from the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), the Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs (MEEA), the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA), the Coast Guard, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Petrotrin simultaneously established its own centralized incident command center, based at the company's administration building in Santa Flora.

Equipment and consumables from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida-based Oil Spill Response Ltd. (OSRL), arrived in Trinidad on 23 Dec. Trained OSRL personnel from the US and the UK arrived in Trinidad on 24-25 Dec.

Oil samples from La Brea and Pointe-a-Pierre have been sent to the US for identification and fingerprinting, in an effort to identify the source of the oils.