If it is determined that oil residue found on the Riviera Maya’s shores in Mexico are linked to a Petrotrin spill that occurred in T&T on April 23 this year then the entire board of the State-owned entity must resign.
The call came from environmentalist Stephen Broadbridge amid international reports that Mexican authorities were examining oil residues found on the Riviera Maya’s to determine a possible link to this country.
On Tuesday, a report by the Yucatan Times said the oil had spread “all the way from the island of Trinidad to the Mexican Caribbean coast,” affecting some Quintana Roo municipalities, such as Solidaridad and Tulum.
The municipal director of environment, Orquídea Trejo Buendia was quoted as saying that an inspection would have been conducted from Punta Maroma to the Mayakoba Hotel, detecting the existence of dark spots of oil residues along the coast.
“It has been determined that the origin of these spots is linked to the Trinidad incident,” the report said.
And if it is proven that this is true, it is also a major embarrassment to T&T, Broadbridge said.
He said no two oil spills were the same as they were like “fingerprints.”
“It is like a fingerprint because no batch of oil is the same. You can exactly match it up and if it is so then the entire board of Petrotrin should resign.
“It is a disgrace not only because of environmental damage but they have also embarrassed us to the world,” Broadbridge said.
Veterinarian Kriyaan Singh said an oil spill of this magnitude could have damning effects on wildlife especially birds.
He said when the April 23 spill occurred, several birds were rescued but instead of being allowed to be treated by local vets and non-governmental organisations they were mandated to be taken to the zoo.
“A notice was sent out in March this year that any rescued wildlife must be taken to the zoo so it did not take into consideration birds caught in oil spills.
“ About 41 birds which were rescued had to be left in crates at the security booth at the zoo because there was no one to receive them,” Singh said.
It was reported that the birds were placed in pigtail buckets and by the following day all died. It was also reported that no autopsies were performed on the birds so the exact extent of damage to wildlife could not be determine, Singh said.
“The notice must be amended because it is clear the zoo cannot handle the amount of wildlife rescued in our country and there are also not enough facilities for them. It is unfortunate we do not appreciate our wildlife and whenever anything happens all we do is just give fishermen money,” Singh added.
The Yucatan Times also reported that on July 6, an oil spot was found in the area of Playacar. Before that, another one was located near the coast of Tulum.
“The so-called equatorial stream of the south that runs along the Atlantic Ocean, from east to west and from south to north, directs the waters from the South American coasts towards the Mexican Caribbean,” the newspaper said.
It also quoted the chemical engineer Carlos Álvarez Flores, president of Mexico Communication and Environment who had said such petroleum residues had reached the Mexican Caribbean by marine currents.
Álvarez Flores had considered it was unlikely that those residues had any relation with boats or machinery.
“The distillation of crude oil generates three things: gases, at the top. liquids, in the middle, (usually gasoline and fuels used to run machinery), and “LP’s” at the bottom, (locally known in Mexico as chapopote, some kind of black tar),” Álvarez Flores had said.
Oil from the spill had also reached the coast of Venezuela.
Petrotrin has engaged in a massive clean-up exercise and has been working with Venezuelan authorities on the spill.