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The National Environment and Planning Agency
(NEPA), is aware of an oil spill that has been affecting the Kingston
Harbour in the vicinity of the Ministry of Health building on Kings
Street.
NEPA began investigation of the spill on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 and
determined that the source of the spill was a ruptured pipe located at
the bottom of an abandoned Bunker C oil tank located at the premises.
Based on these investigations, it was determined that the spill had
started four days earlier.
Subsequently, the following actions have been
taken to prevent further spillage of the oil; blocking of the main
drain containing the oil and a cleanup of the drain.
NEPA has also urgently recommended that the tank
from which the spill occurred be emptied immediately and
decommissioned at the earliest convenience, as it is no longer in use.
Emptying the oil guarantees that the leak is eliminated.
NEPA requested that a schedule for emptying the
oil be developed and a disposal plan be generated by the Urban
Maintenance Limited which has responsibility for cleaning up the oil
spill The Cement Company Limited has been identified to provide
assistance with disposal of the waste oil.
Additionally, the outside sump into which the
spilled oil is to be drained should be temporarily blocked to prevent
any further oil flow into the main drain. Options recommended for
cleaning the sump include; using shovels and absorbent materials such
as sawdust. It is expected that the waste generated from cleaning the
sump should also be addressed in the disposal plan.
Two methods have been suggested for cleaning the
contaminated main drain. The more preferred option includes; removing
the concrete plates covering the length of the drain and scraping and
shoveling the contaminated material from it. This method requires
approval from the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KASC) to
authorize the removal of the plate.
The second method includes flushing the main
drain with water in sections, which would include blocking a section
closest to the spill and flushing the section totally. This process
should be repeated until the entire section in the direction of the
sea has been completed. Special care should be taken to ensure that
the oil and water do not spill into the roadway during a flush as the
contaminated material should be taken out and stored for disposal.
Flushing should take a maximum of two days to ensure a complete wash.
NEPA foresees that there may be problems with the
disposal of the oil and water mixture and recommends that contact is
made with Petrojam to get proper advice as they might be able to
collect the waste.
NEPA has instructed that the clean up activities
be completed by Wednesday, April 20. |
