Jun 2010 Financial News

Hurricane season may put Ja at risk of BP oil pollution

Jun 18, 2010

Jamaica's coastal waters and marine life could, during the current hurricane season, be at risk of severe oil pollution from the massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) CEO Peter Knight told the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee Wednesday that while the chances of misfortune remained low, the likelihood of an environmental disaster could not be ruled out.

Knight was responding to questions about NEPA's preparations to handle seepage into Caribbean waters from the oil slick affecting coastal waters in the US Gulf states of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.

National plan

Knight said while there was a national oil-spill plan spearheaded by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, NEPA was also one of its supporting agencies.

"It needs resources but there is a plan," said Knight. "The BP issue and the impact on the Caribbean is a matter that we have been tracking."

Knight admitted that NEPA, although lacking the necessary technical expertise, has been working with the University of the West Indies (UWI).

He said a series of models developed by UWI's Dr Dale Webber showed Jamaica was not likely to be impacted by the oil spill.

According to the NEPA CEO, this conclusion had been arrived at based on the dynamics involving ocean-current flow, as well as other factors.

Models show no impact

"I am not going to say it's not going to happen but, as of now, the models show Jamaica will not be impacted," Knight added.

In nearby Cuba, officials have been busily making preparations to protect the coastline as the BP oil spill continues to weave its way through the Gulf of Mexico.

Spill-fighting experts have already been dispatched to the island from Venezuela, the communist state's oil-rich ally, to provide assistance.

Forecasters have predicted that the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season will be more active than average, with at least 15 storms, eight of which are expected to become hurricanes.


Source:
Philip Hamilton, Gleaner Writer
Jamaica Gleaner
Friday June 18, 2010

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100618/news/news6.html