Today a legal representative of Belize Natural Energy appeared in San Ignacio Magistrate’s Court to answer to a summons issued by the Department of the Environment. The department alleges that the oil company failed to report an oil spill that occurred on the fourth of February so it has charged them for the relatively minor offence of non-reporting. A small charge, but a significant act, as sanctioning BNE – especially with court action - was long considered off limits. Still, nothing much happened in court today as the matter was adjourned until March 10th.
But BNE today issued a typically self-congratulatory press release talking about its unwavering commitment to the environment – an impressive boast for a company that has had three oil spills since November. It confirms that there was a spill of five to seven barrels within its compound on February fourth and says that its staff acted quickly to, quote “implement proven procedures to minimize any adverse impact on the surrounding environment.”
As for that spill, BNE’s statement says that under the terms of its Environmental Compliance Plan, it has 72 hours to report and provide a written account of the incident – and it has done so for the February fourth spill, and for all prior spills. We note that the Chief Environmental Officer Martin Allegria has a decidedly different view – and thus the charge for non-reporting. He told us that there has been consistent non-reporting. But according to BNE – the real weakness in reporting lies with the department where there is no system in place, nor is there any 24 hour hotline for reporting.
BNE’s statement makes no mention of the fact that it was summoned to appear in court by the Chief Environmental Officer for non-reporting.
