Trade Winds Citrus served enforcement notice for Rio Cobre oil spill

The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) has served an enforcement notice on Trade Winds Citrus Limited after its investigation found that one of the company's facilities was the source of the recent oil spill in the Rio Cobre in St Catherine.

In a media release on Friday, NEPA said its investigations found that the oil spill in the Bog Walk area was coming from a malfunctioning boiler from the old Jamaica Beverage Plant, now owned and operated by Trade Winds Citrus. 

It noted that the facility has the required bunding in place to contain the oil, but said the leak that occurred last weekend was from the defective boiler.

"At this point, the Agency is unable to quantify the volume of heavy fuel oil that has escaped. Nevertheless, NEPA's intervention involved engaging the assistance of Petrojam Limited in providing booms, absorbent pads and substances to break down the oil as well as technical advice for the clean-up exercise," the statement said.

NEPA said, so far, a good portion of the oil has been removed from the environment while some has been contained in drains.

However, it said there is some amount of oil sheen visible on the water surface stretching from the boom to Bog Walk. As such, NEPA is advising resource users of the river, including fisher folk and recreational and domestic users to be mindful of oil traces and to exercise caution.

NEPA has served enforcement notice on Trade Winds Citrus Limited to clean-up and remediate the immediate environment of the oil spill.

It said further enforcement, to include legal action against the company, will follow.

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