Above: oil production in Trinidad
By the Caribbean Journal staff
Two more oil spills have been reported in Trinidad’s Gulf of Paria, according to state-owned oil firm Petrotrin.
The spills are the latest in a series that began on Dec. 17.
“Petrotrin has received reports today (December 25) of two further incidents of oil being discharged into the environment in the Moruga/Rock River area,” the company said in a statement. “Cleanup and investigation efforts have already been initiated with respect to these latest incidents.”
It is still unclear as to what caused the spills; Petrotrin said it was continuing to investigate the circumstances and “is actively following several new leads.”
The company said it was “very mindful of the difficulties experienced by the several parties impacted by the recent oil spills and continue to take measures to provide relief.”
The company has placed officers in the Coffee Beach area at La Brea, and has been providing meals daily for about 100 of those affected, it said.
The spills have seriously affected the livelihoods of local fishermen; Petrotrin said it had made compensation payments on Tuesday to two fisher folk associations in the area.
Earlier this week, a team of US and UK experts arrived in the country, some of whom had worked on the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Petrotrin has not yet released data on the amount of oil released into the water.