Energy Minister and La Brea MP Nicole Olivierre said she was disappointed with Petrotrin’s delay in responding to Vance River residents concerns about an oil spill in the river.
Olivierre visited the area and met with residents for the first time yesterday since four-year-old Caleb Hart fell into the oil-polluted river near his Fitz Lane home last week Wednesday. Residents claimed Petrotrin only responded to the oil spill after Caleb fell into the river although they reported the oil spill a month ago.
Speaking with reporters near the oil-polluted river, Olivierre said: “I am certainly very disappointed that is the case because this is a serious environmental issue and Petrotrin needs to have a faster response time to events like this. When there are spills offshore the response time has been quite rapid, so perhaps they seem to have fallen back in their response time for oil spills on land. But I certainly encourage residents living within the constituency within the oil producing areas, if you do notice oil spills on land please make every effort to contact the company or my office.”
Asked to comment on residents’ concern about the incident, she said: “ When I came I was able to see first hand the extent of the oil that is currently in the river and I saw this bridge that the child was crossing, three feet wide and no railing.”
The minister said she has asked Petrotrin to install a railing on the bridge while they look fora long term solution.
Responding to residents’ health complaints, including feeling nauseous and skin rashes, she said: “I would ask Petrotrin to send a medical team to do an assessment of the residents to see what impact the oil spill has had on the residents and see what relief can be brought to them as quickly as possible.”
Told that Petrotrin stated that the source of the oil may have been from an abandoned well, she said: “I am aware that some wells were capped as a result of the route for the highway passing through producing areas. We certainly have to investigate and make sure they were properly capped and that no leakage is taking place and have to rethink whether it was sensible to stymie producing wells.”
Responding to complaints by residents that they have not seen her since she was campaigning for elections and attempts to reach ehr has been unsuccessful: “ I have been balancing between the constituency and my job as minister. I spent a lot of time travelling abroad so my time to be able to be with the residents has been limited. I hope they would have been able to contact my office and get further information and support.” The minister, who gave the residents her cell number, said she was not aware of the oil spill until she saw it in the media.