The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for ExxonMobil’s proposed 7th oil extraction project has been submitted to the EPA.
A public notice in today’s Sunday Stabroek said that the EIS and the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) have been tendered to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Members of the public now have 60 days from today’s date to review the EIA/EIS and make written submissions to the EPA “as they consider appropriate”.
The notice said that the EIA and EIS are available on the EPA’s website for download.
Last year July, the EPA served notice that ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) had applied for an environmental authorization to undertake its seventh oil extraction project at the Hammerhead site.
EMGL already has three producing platforms in the Atlantic and three more are under construction as the company aims to extract well over one million barrels of oil per day from the Stabroek Bloc in the coming years.
The Hammerhead project will again put the spotlight on this government on whether it will seek improved benefits for Guyana rather than sticking with the broadly criticized 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA).
The EPA notice said it has been determined that the project may significantly affect the environment and will therefore require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before any decision can be made.
Among other things, the EPA said that the project is in relatively close proximity to other development projects which heightens the risk for cumulative impacts of the project. The EPA added that the associated risks attached to the unplanned events of petroleum production activities may be significant.
Last December, Guyanese, Wintress Morris and Joy Marcus headed to the courts in an effort to head off the project which they say will significantly contribute to greenhouse gas pollution, consequently negatively affecting the planet.
The plaintiffs outlined in a release that they have gone to court against the EPA to protect Guyana and the Guyanese people from the impacts of the proposed ExxonMobil Guyana, Hammerhead petroleum project. They are represented by attorneys-at-law Melinda Janki, Tim Prudhoe, Anna-Kay Brown, and Suzanne Bullen.
Stabroek News
