La Brea residents have expressed frustration over the frequency of oil spills in the area.
The latest occurred on Saturday morning when pools of thick oil washed ashore at Coffee Beach in the second such incident for the month.
“I got sick in the major one in 2013. They cut piece of my skin from my head—my hair was dropping—for testing.
“Up to to now I never get back the results,”said Tenisha Modeste, 30, who is seven months pregnant.
Another resident, Charmaine Montano, said residents were still sick from the 2013 spill.
She said one of her relatives, who suffered with asthma, had to be taken for medical treatment.
Montano wants the authorities to send an ambulance and a medical team every time there was an oil spill to ensure residents are not affected.
Another resident, who did not want to be identified, said: “It makes no sense saying anything because every time this happens is just talk. The fishermen get compensated, but we who living in it get nothing.”
Oil also washed up along the Point Sable, Station and Carat Shed beaches.
President of the La Brea Fisherfolk Association Alvin la Borde said the oil stuck to pirogues and dead chip chip littered the beach at Point Sable.
“It affecting fishermen because they don’t want to catch and sell anything that is contaminated,” he said.
“Residents complaining because oil sticking up under their feet and on fishermen’s boats.”
La Borde said he did not know the origin of the oil.
“We are not sure where the oil came from, but it is alleged that an oil spill was reported last week that came from East Field Trinmar operations. The oil appeared to be weathered oil which means it was out there for sometime.”
State owned energy company Petrotrin has launched an investigation to identify the source of deposits of oil pellets seen along the shorelines of four beaches.
The company said in a media release over the weekend that the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries and the Envronmental Management Authority (EMA) were notified about the incident.
La Borde confirmed that Petrotrin had sent a team to clean up the beaches.