By Adrian Frater, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THURSDAY NIGHT'S oil spill in the Montego Bay Free Port, which caused quite a major scare for security, port and environmental officials, is being blamed on an abandoned pipeline, which officials say leaks oil into the harbour from time to time.
"The leak was detected by a visiting US Coast Guard vessel, which was berthing near the dock," said Gill Williams, the Executive Director of the Montego Bay Marine Park. "We went to investigate and promptly alerted the Port Authority of Jamaica, the marine police and the National Environmental and Planning Agency (NEPA)."
Ms. Williams said the seepage, which was detected at about 7:00 p.m., emanated from one of the many pipelines, which lead from dock to the dock farm, an area where oil that comes into the island is stored in tanks. However, she said that to the best of her knowledge, the problematic pipelines are not being used.
While admitting that seepage from the particular pipeline is nothing new, Ms. Williams, who admitted that the marine park had been monitoring the situation for a long time, said that Thursday night's spill, which spread as far away as the Montego Bay Yacht Club, was the worst she has seen.
"The seepage is a regular occurrence and is something we have been looking at to determine its cause," said Ms. Williams, who said the seepage usually occurs after a shower. "This time around, the oil coming out of the pipe was much more forceful than at other times and that makes it quite worrisome."
Representatives of NEPA, who visited the area on Friday morning, have stated that while their assessment of the impact of the spill was still ongoing, they were not envisaging any major environmental damage. They have promised to release a full statement on the issue as soon as their investigations are completed.
The Port Authority of Jamaica has also launched an investigation into the matter with a view of determining who owns the pipeline and whether or not it is still connected to one of the storage tanks in the dock farm.
"We will continue to monitor the situation but it is our hope that the source of the problem will be identified and measures taken fix the problem," said Ms. Williams. "As long as these leaks continue to happen, it will remain a source of great concern to us."
