Cape Town - Small-scale fishers are protesting the imminent arrival of the Eco Atlantic oil rig on Monday, which is set to start offshore oil and gas exploration activities on the West Coast.
As the Eco Atlantic oil rig, which left the North Sea on August 12, makes its way to South Africa to begin its exploration drilling project on the West Coast, the Green Connection said no project-specific oil spill contingency plan (OSCP) has been made available to interested and affected parties.
However, Eco Atlantic said that the document is available for review.
“It can be accessed either under a confidentiality agreement from Eco, or the parties may exercise their rights under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) by lodging a formal application with the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) as the appropriate governmental authority in possession of the OSCP,” the company said.
The Green Connection has however refused this option, as the organisation says the OSCP should be in the public arena and the PAIA process takes too long.
“While we did manage to get some of the answers we were looking for, (Eco Atlantic) has not been very forthcoming regarding the details for their contingency plan.
First, we were told by EIMS that we would need to request it from their client Eco Atlantic. Then we were told by Eco-Atlantic’s lawyers that we can get the OSCP but only on condition that we agree not to share it with anyone,” the Green Connection’s strategic lead, Liziwe McDaid said.
“A PAIA application relating to third-party applications can take almost three months to process. If the authorities refuse, the decision can be appealed, but this process can take about two months to finalise.
By that time the exploration drilling would have commenced and most likely would have been completed,” the Green Connection added.
According to the organisation, a project-specific OSCP, in respect of this proposed exploration drilling, is a mitigation measure that was proposed in the final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for large blow-outs. An oil or gas well blow-out is an uncontrolled release of crude oil or gas from a well.
Walter Steenkamp, a small-scale fisher from Port Nolloth and chairperson of Coastal Links Northern Cape said: “As small-scale fishers, we say no to oil and gas exploration because it is dangerous for our fish and water, and it contributes to global warming.
“No-one has told us what will happen when there is a leak, nor have we been informed about how the marine ecosystem will be affected. We believe that our government should do more to educate the affected communities about all the impacts of offshore oil and gas exploration and they definitely need to consult the people before they make decisions that could negatively affect them.”
According to Eco-Atlantic, all required documentation and approvals had been filed with all the relevant authorities for the Drilling of the Gazania-1 well.
“Certain organized parties have approached the Operator and have asked for the OSCP to be shared for public distribution. This is an integrated document with several other relevant submissions that have been filed relating to the environment, safety and security, and have been reviewed and approved over the past several months. Eco has responded to the parties requesting the OSCP that the document is available for review.
“The Oil Spill Contingency Plan (“OSCP”) was developed in accordance (with) international standards and with all of South Africa’s authoritative agencies.
The OSCP contains the protocol to be followed in the unlikely event of an oil spill”.
Cape Times