C A Smith, Minister of Transport, Aviation, and Local Government commended Texaco Bahamas Ltd. on Thursday for its two-day emergency response workshop and oil spill training course to protect Bahamian waters.
"Oil spills are real, and adequate preparedness and recovery executions, are vital," Smith said at a closing reception/dinner in the Governor's Ballroom at the British Colonial Hilton.
The three oil refineries in the Bahamas - The Container Port, South Riding Point, and Bahamas Oil Refinery- can become potential dangers for oil spills within the 100, 000 square miles of Bahamian waters, Smith said.
Referring to the major Exxon oil spill that took place in Alaskan waters in the mid 90's, Smith said that, "This particular spill and others forced us to examine our situation."
And a more recent occurrence he reminded his audience, occurred on May 23 of this year when bunker fuel oil spilled from the tank of a cargo vessel, shortly after the vessel had discharged its cargo at the BORCO fuel jetty.
A little more than one thousand gallons of oil-water mixture, and more that than five hundred pounds of oily debris were recovered and removed, he said.
"This," Smith announced, "is living testament that Texaco's efforts are timely and truly commendable."
The Transport Minister also pointed out a significant risk to Bahamian waters is derived from the large number of cruise ships, pleasure craft, and cargo containers that ply their way through Bahamian waters.
Smith also announced that the Government was in the process of acquiring oil spill containment equipment for the Port of Nassau.
He applauded the efforts that the local oil company had made and said that the two-day session covered a wide range of eventualities that had to be taken into account.
This involved, he said a clearer understanding of risk management, emergency preparedness, responding to emergencies, an incident command system, and waste management.
Hard questions had to be asked, Smith said, concerning The Bahamas' preparedness to handle oil spills, and what could be done if a spill occurred. He drew attention to the Government's 1998 contingency plan formulated to handle oil spill emergencies, which he said, materialized as a result of the Government's commissioning Rear Admiral Stacey to produce a blueprint for action in the event of such a national emergency.
"Input was solicited from all stakeholders, especially the oil handling companies," Smith said,
and the Bahamas Oil Spill Contingency Plan Advisory Committee is constituted so that the committee functions as a management unit for the plan. He said that the leading organizations for the entire plan are his Ministry and the Ministry of Health, and a legislative sub-committee to focus on the establishing laws, regulations, and guidelines, is set to be discussed at Cabinet level.
The Government remains committed to the building of a safe and clean Bahamas, Smith said, as he pledged his Ministry's continued support to Texaco and all other relevant agencies.