Bauxite company in Linden ordered to clean up oil from Demerara River; company to be punished

Last Updated on Thursday, 31 March 2016, 17:22 by Denis Chabrol

The Chinese-owned bauxite mining company, Bosai Minerals, has been ordered to clean up used oil that the company said was accidentally released into the Demerara River and surrounding waterways, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Thursday afternoon.

The EPA has instructed Bosai to immediately commence clean-up and restoration activities. Meanwhile, the EPA continues with its investigation and monitoring of the facility and clean-up exercise.

The EPA said the Linden-based bauxite company would be punished for the environmental pollution. “Further, the EPA is determining the penalties to be issued against the Company.”

The EPA detailed that it received a report through the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) on Wednesday, March 29, 2016, regarding a report of the release of used oil into surrounding drainage waterways and the Demerara River by Bosai Minerals Group (Guyana) Inc.

The EPA says its investigation revealed that used oil flowed from a concrete drainage network in the compound of the Bosai Mineral Group (Guyana) Inc. leading to a nearby trench and ultimately into the Demerara River. The area containing the used oil tank has an oil-water separator in place to capture spilt oil.

“However, according to an official from Bosai, used oil was inadvertently released into the surface drain instead of the oil-water separator. The Environmental Department of Bosai stated they were unaware that used oil was being released from their facility and only became aware of the matter on March 30, 2016, at approximately 11:00 hrs. when it was brought to their attention,” the regulatory and environmental management agency  said in its statement.

The EPA said it promptly conducted an investigation on 30 March, 2016, in collaboration with the Regional Democratic Council, Region 10. “The investigation sought to determine the source or cause of the incident and to identify immediate remediation requirements. Officials of Bosai, including members of the Company’s Environmental Department, Health and Safety Department, and Supervisor of the Power Generation Plant, were present during the investigation.”