ExxonMobil EIA for Liza One very flawed
– Assesses only 6 of 250+ toxic chemicals from flare up
– reliability of results affected by weather, electricity woe
Kaieteur News- The impact on air quality by flailing Guyana at sea from ExxonMobil’s local subsidiary Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) has not been studied as the company allegedly did not anticipate a circumstance such is playing out. In its environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Liza Phase One project, the company used a mechanism to measure the impact of this practice on air quality. Importantly, that exercise did not even measure 10 percent of the toxic chemicals released by torching. Furthermore, the EIA notes that a number of challenges have impacted on the reliability of the study. The issues mentioned therefore make the EIA very deficient in measuring air quality, leaving the public with no idea of the true impact of torch on the environment.
Notes on the air quality measurement can be found in Volume Two of the EIA, technical appendices.
Guyana flares offshore in Liza Destiny’s oil ship
Page five of the Air Quality Parameters document, states that the study examined only concentrations of six chemicals.
“The program measured ambient concentrations of SO2 (Sulfur dioxide), H2S (Hydrogen sulfide), NA (Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Volatile Organic Compound (VOC), and Particulate Matter 10 (PM10), ”The AIA states.
According to a special study conducted by the World Bank, torching releases gases that are not only harmful to a person’s health but also catastrophic to the climate. The report states that torches release more than 250 toxins including cancer-causing agents such as benzopyrene, benzene, carbon disulphide (CS2), carbonyl sulfide (COS), and toluene. It also releases metals like mercury, arsenic, and chromium and nitrogen oxides.
Because the EEPGL air quality study only measures the ambient concentration of six chemicals, it would be a defective indication of the disadvantage of flare-up to air quality. The six chemicals account for less than 2.5 percent of the toxic chemicals that pollute the air.
In addition, Page Nine of the Technical Appendices includes a section that talks about Quality Management / Quality Assurance. The EIA states “Air monitoring aboard an operational research vessel presents many challenges in obtaining reliable ambient air quality monitoring measurements.”
The EIA asserts that these challenges are “Potential uncertainty in the location of measurement; Exposure to weather that could damage instruments or bias their measurements; Possible measurement bias due to effects of on-board emission sources; and Reliability of electrical power to operate the monitoring equipment. ”
The department went on to state that the monitoring program equipment had proven to be durable, but significant aberrations had occurred, which include the failure of the Carbon Monoxide (CO) sensor and the malfunction of the Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) sensor.
With all the challenges identified to the monitoring process, which also lacked studies on the ambient concentration of more than 200 toxic chemicals released by torching, ExxonMobil’s AEA succinctly presented that the results showed an ‘ to monitor the air contaminants in the vicinity of the Liza Period. One area to be depressed.
Page 10, Results page states, “In general, concentrations of the monitored air contaminants in the vicinity of the Liza Phase 1 area were found to be very low compared to levels typically found in terrestrial environments , and with national and international ambient air quality standards. ”
The company has flamed over 13 billion cubic feet of Guyana offshore gas and to date, it is still blazing at around 16 million cubic feet a day. The country is awaiting the replacement of ExxonMobil’s repaired gas compression equipment.