Blog SEAD moves to another place

Please follow activities of SEAD on our new blogspot: https://st-eustatius-sead.blogspot.com/

NuStar considering smaller project at another location

TEXAS--NuStar is considering a smaller expansion project, possibly at another location in St. Eustatius.

That is the word from NuStar management. In a written statement sent to The Daily Herald, NuStar confirmed that the company had withdrawn its request for a building permit to expand the terminal with some 30 tanks in The Farm area. This newspaper reported on the withdrawal of the building permit request in Tuesday's edition.

"It is with profound disappointment that we announce that several issues have arisen recently which have impacted the costs associated with the proposed expansion project. This has made the project economically unfeasible," stated management.
"The good news is that there is an opportunity for a smaller expansion, possibly in an alternate location. Given this turn of events, we have withdrawn the building permit application that we previously submitted to the government since a new permit would be required if we move forward with the smaller expansion."

According to management, discussions are "underway" for "another potential expansion" in St. Eustatius that would be smaller than the Cul de Sac project. This project would confirm an "important part of the terminal's continued growth and success" and would further increase NuStar's ability to invest in the island.

Management assured that St. Eustatius remained a "highly strategic location" for NuStar and that the company would "continue to pursue opportunities to invest in and expand the terminal in ways that are beneficial to the island and to NuStar." The statement mentioned the US $50 million water distillation expansion project currently being executed and nearing completion.

Management said it would continue to cooperate with St. Eustatius and its government. "As we did throughout this process, we will continue working to ensure that we have open and honest communications with the community and government. NuStar appreciates the support of our employees, the Island Government and other community supporters as we worked to develop our proposed Cul de Sac expansion project."

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/27701-nustar-considering-smaller-project-at-another-location-.html

Statia people hit the streets in protest to NuStar expansion plans - photo's

Photos Olga Schats

Statia people hit the streets in protest to NuStar expansion plans - Dutch press release

Om 15.00 uur vanmiddag startte op de Congo Preserve een protestmars van bijna 200 inwoners van St. Eustatius richting de ‘Governments Office’, het locale gemeentehuis. Zij protesteerden tegen de uitbreidingsplannen van oliegigant NuStar in ‘The Farm’, een locatie rijk aan zeldzame flora, fauna en archeologische artefacten. Bovendien bevindt het terrein waar NuStar wil uitbreiden zich dichtbij het centrum van Oranjestad en vrezen de inwoners voor hun gezondheid en veiligheid.

De protestmars was een gezamenlijk intiatief van de grassroot-bewegingen SEAD en Statia Roots en de stichting Statia Safe and Sound.

Kritiek op overheid
Al maandenlang wordt op het eiland, met 3600 inwoners en half zo groot als Schiermonnikoog, geprotesteerd tegen de uitbreiding. Er is veel kritiek op de locale overheid vanwege de uiterst beperkte berichtgeving en het ontbreken van een inspraakverordening. Openbaarheid van bestuur is eerder uitzondering dan regel op St. Eustatius. Wat de inwoners rest zijn ingezonden brieven in de plaatselijke krant, petities, discussieprogramma’s op televisie, bezwaarschriften en pogingen de interesse te wekken van de internationale media.

Jong en oud, zwart en wit
Dat het de Statianen hoog zit, blijkt uit de samenstelling van de stoet. Moeders met baby’s, hoogbejaarde inwoners met stok, wit, zwart, Europese en Caribische Nederlanders. “Dit is een historische gebeurtenis” zegt Paul Spanner, voorzitter van Statia Roots Foundation, “Nooit eerder zijn Statianen de straat op gegaan in het besef dat ze het recht hebben om tegen de eilandsoverheid te demonstreren.” De demonstranten droegen spandoeken, protestborden en riepen leuzen als: “No tanks, no bombs, no pollution”, “Tanks No Thanks”, “Democratie of oliegarchie?” en “Money for them, pollution for we”. Langs de route stonden vele belangstellenden waaronder locale politici.

Ontvangst protestbrief en foto’s
Bij aankomst bij de Governments Office nam waarnemend gezaghebber de heer Louis Brown de aangeboden protestbrief en foto’s in ontvangst. De serie foto’s representeerde de mogelijke gevaren die de uitbreiding met zich meebrengt, brandende tanks, brandende schepen, een verlaten strand, met hierbij steeds het onderschrift “We don’t want that”.

Oliereus op mini-eiland
SEAD-coördinator Kenneth Cuvalay: “NuStar zweert bij hun strenge veiligheidsvoorschriften. Maar nog geen maand geleden, lekte er uit een oliepijp bij NuStar-terminal Aberdeen 500 vaten diesel over een terrein van 2 km2. Als dat hier gebeurt, stroomt het hele centrum onder de olie. Om over brand nog maar te zwijgen. Dat is toch gekkenwerk.“

Nederlandse overheid houdt zich afzijdig
“Er zijn miljarden gemoeid met de uitbreiding”, vertelt Cuvalay. ”Olieop- en overslag is booming business. De locale overheid en NuStar spelen handjeklap en de Nederlandse overheid stelt zich op als Pontius Pilate; zich stiekem verheugend op miljoenen extra belastinginkomsten van NuStar. De bevolking van St. Eustatius staat er alleen voor, met het schrikbeeld van 31 nieuwe olietanks voor ogen, 35 meter hoog , vol in het zicht, op nog geen 500 meter van Oranjestad”.

Media coverage on historic Peaceful Citizin's March, Statia, March 16th 2012

YouTube

• Public Protest March 16th 2012 (Video 1).mp4
  
• Public Protest March 16th 2012 Video 2 
• Public Protest March 16th 2012 (Video 3).mp4 

Newspapers / websites

•  NuStar blijft Kamerleden zorgen baren
  Antilliaans Dagblad 20 maart 2012
• Vragen GroenLinks over besluit NuStar 
  RNW 20 maart 2012
• St. Eustatius in actie tegen olieopslag 
  De Volkskrant maandag 19 maart 2012
• Demonstratie Statia tegen uitbreiding NuStar
  Antilliaans Dagblad maandag 19 maart 2012
• Sint Eustatius demonstreert tegen Nustar
  Radio Nederland Wereldomroep
• More than 200 demonstrate against terminal expansion
  The Daily Herald, St. Maarten zaterdag 17 maart 2012
• Groot protest tegen Nustar op St.Eustatius 
  Versgeperst Curacao
• “Money for them, pollution for we”
  Caribseek News
• Plans For New NuStar Oil Terminal Trigger A First In St. Eustatius History
  Caribseek News
• Statia in alle staten: protestmars tegen uitbreiding olietanks op mini-eiland
  De Telegraaf, vrijdag 16 maart 2012, pag. T5

Diesel pipe leak at NuStar terminal San Antonio

Please read this article about a diesel pipe leak at the NuStar San Antonio terminal.

This happened despite the "most sophisticated safety and environmental measures available".

This could happen in St. Eustatius too, because the to be built Farm located terminal will be connected with a pipeline to the location in Tumble Down Dick Bay.

Please not that the affected area is a half acre, that is 2 square kilometer. Around 500 barrels spilled from the leak (1 barrel contains 42 gallon or 159 liter).

Do the math.

Ecology Global Network takes interest in terminal expansion

Four part series by Betsy Crowfoot (Ecology.com) exploring the potential impact of NuStar Energy’s proposed oil terminal expansion on the Caribbean island of St. Eustatius on Ecology's website

Well written and based on extensive research this series is a must read for everybody.

1. Part I: Tarnish on the Golden Rock: Will the Tiny Caribbean Isle of St. Eustatius Surrender to Oil Multinationals?
2. Part II: St. Eustatius Residents Fear Losing Their Island to Expanded Oil Terminal
3. Part III: How ‘Green’ is the Golden Rock?
4. Part IV: New Worries About Oil Terminal Risks on St. Eustatius Island

Delegatie van Eerste en Tweede Kamer bezoekt Caribisch deel Koninkrijk

Een parlementaire delegatie van de Eerste en Tweede Kamer, onder leiding van de voorzitter van de commissie voor Koninkrijksrelaties van de Tweede Kamer,; Brigitte van der Burg, neemt van dinsdag 10 tot en met vrijdag 13 januari deel aan het Interparlementair Koninkrijksoverleg op Sint Maarten. Voorafgaand aan het Koninkrijksoverleg legt de delegatie meerdere werkbezoeken af aan het Caribisch deel van het Koninkrijk: Curaçao op 2 en 3 januari, Aruba op 4 januari, Bonaire op 5 januari, Sint Eustatius op 6 januari en Saba op 7 januari.

Interparlementair Koninkrijksoverleg
Gedurende het Interparlementair Koninkrijksoverleg vergaderen delegaties van de Staten-Generaal en van de Staten van Aruba, Curaçao en Sint Maarten onder voorzitterschap van de Statenvoorzitter van Sint Maarten, Gracita R. Arindell. Op de agenda staan onder andere de mogelijkheden tot samenwerking van de landen in het Koninkrijk op terreinen als gezondheidszorg, jeugd en jongeren en het vervoer tussen de landen in het Caribisch deel van het Koninkrijk. Daarnaast komen onderwerpen van meer juridisch-technische en politieke aard aan bod zoals rijkswetgeving en de waarborgfunctie van het Koninkrijk.

Gesprekken
Tijdens de reizen voorafgaand aan het Koninkrijksoverleg worden niet alleen gesprekken gevoerd met bestuurders en volksvertegenwoordigers, maar staan werkbezoeken op het programma aan onder andere maatschappelijke instellingen. De delegatie streeft ernaar op ieder van de drie BES-eilanden, die sinds 10 oktober 2010 als een soort bijzondere gemeenten deel uitmaken van Nederland, met de bevolkingen in contact te treden tijdens een “meet en greet”. Met deze bezoeken willen de Leden op een meer directe wijze kennis nemen van de dagelijkse ervaringen van de bevolkingen op deze eilanden, sinds die in het Nederlandse staatsbestel zijn geïntegreerd.

De samenstelling van de Nederlandse delegatie is als volgt:

Eerste Kamer

• Marijke Linthorst  (PvdA, vice-delegatieleider)
  
• Frank van Kappen (VVD)
  
• Sophie van Bijsterveld (CDA)
  
• Peter van Dijk (PVV)
  

Tweede Kamer

• Brigitte van der Burg (VVD, delegatieleider)
  
• André Bosman (VVD)
  
• Jeroen Recourt (PvdA)
  
• Eric Lucassen (PVV)
  
• Bas Jan van Bochove (CDA)
  
• Ronald van Raak (SP)
  
• Wassila Hachchi (D66)
  
• Ineke van Gent (GroenLinks)
  
• Cynthia Ortega-Martijn (ChristenUnie)
  

(Bron: website Tweede Kamer)

People - profit - planet

From the Dutch media we learned that NuStar has hired the former Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Bernard Bot, to lobby for its interests in The Hague (see also https://www.sp.nl/column/ronald-van-raak/2011/bel-ben-bot). So much for NuStar's "open and honest communication" they claim they're so committed to.

We also learned that Mr. Bot is working for the company Meines & Partners in The Hague. Meines & Partners is a company that states on its website to feel socially responsible. In other words, they follow the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility (in Dutch Maatschappelijk Verantwoord Ondernemen). The Triple P approach is often used to describe these principles: People, Profit, Planet.

Corporate Social Responsibility can be described as a way of doing business aimed at economical results (Profit), with respect for social aspects (People), within the ecological conditions (Planet).

Lobbying for NuStar, in SEAD's opinion, only serves the P for Profit. The story that Mr. Bot has for the Dutch MPs must be really convincing: NuStar has built a 3.8 barrel facility in Amsterdam, and it hires Dutch company Verwater to build their tanks in Amsterdam, St. Eustatius.

But we really wonder how the People and the Planet are served by NuStar's expansion in the Farm area. SEAD has asked Meines & Partners to give some clarification on this matter.

Holland to benefit from NuStar's expansion

As stated on several occasions, the St. Eustatius government is in favor of NuStar expansions plans. Economical development of the island is the main argument. Commissioner Van Putten in The Daily Herald of September 9, 2011: "The island must see a significant contribution in order for the Executive Council to give its fiat to any expansion plan".  Van Putten was on a working visit in the Netherlands to discuss the NuStar proposal with the Dutch Ministries.

The Dutch Minister of Kingdom Affairs made it very clear that St. Eustatius government is the one to decide on the expansion. Given that fact, it is very interesting to follow NuStar's lobby in The Hague. NuStar seems to pay frequent visits to members of parliament in The Hague, and former Minister of foreign affairs, Ben Bot himself is one of the lobbyist trying to win them over.

So what's in it for the Dutch?

NuStar and its predecessors always paid very low taxes on the island. Since 10 October 2010, the island of St. Eustatius no longer is part of the Netherlands Antilles, but became a public entity of the Netherlands. One of the first things the Dutch changed in St. Eustatius was the tax system. The main increase in tax revenue of NuStar will go directly to The Hague, as a local council member states in Statia News. 

St. Eustatius got extra funding from Holland for education and health care. In other important areas, local government is very much on its own. The government faces huge problems according to the same council member:

• "Government cannot pay decent salaries, which makes it very hard to attract quality personnel. Also many of our locals don’t want to come back home because of this.
•  Government buildings are almost beyond repair and not suitable to work in. There is no money on the budget for maintenance.
• All our roads and other infrastructure are in a deplorable state and need urgent attention.
• There is not one cent for investment. Instead there is a multi-million dollar investment deficit with their roads, electricity supply system."

With an annual "free resource" of 7,4 million dollar coming from Holland, it is impossible for St. Eustatius government to get the island's infrastructure on an acceptable level.

So this is actually a very smart move of Dutch government. They collect the money and leave local government to deal with angry citizens, ravaged eco-systems and destroyed archeological sites.

Expansion area

Contribution of Annemieke Jansen


This YouTube film is made with Google Earth Pro and shows you the island of St. Eustatius, the location of Nustar and the area where Nustar wants to expand.

Open letter to NuStar Board of Directors

Dear Sirs,

This letter serves to inform you about current developments involving NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE: NS). NuStar Energy L.P. is the second largest oil terminal operator in the USA and the fourth largest in the world. Their largest facility by far is located on the Dutch Caribbean island of St. Eustatius. With its capacity of 13 million barrels the terminal on St. Eustatius alone can hold as much as 25 per cent of all NuStar's terminals in the USA combined (50.6 million barrels). The operation on this island is therefore a key factor in NuStar Energy's overall results.

At the NAPTP MLP Investor Conference in May 2011, NuStarGP Holdings, LLC (NYSE: NSH), which owns general partner interests in NuStar Energy L.P. and manages the business affairs of NuStar Energy L.P., stated that they were constructing another million barrels capacity on St. Eustatius. However, these plans have generated considerable unrest amongst the population of the island. Petitions against the current plans have been organized. Protests against the proposed expansion have led to repeated questions being asked to the relevant Ministers in the Dutch Parliament. Interest groups have also appealed to UNESCO.

The concerns and protests are about the proposed location of NuStar's additional tanks and associated new jetty. Their proximity to residential areas, schools, the island's only swimming beach, recreational areas and the airport is considered a threath to the inhabitants' health, safety and general quality of life. Unique eco systems and coral reefs will be damaged and limit the chances to get on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

In addition, unique cultural heritage will be affected or even destroyed by the current plans as the site includes extensive 18th century slave cemeteries and a private colonial plantation cemetery dating back to 1719. The destruction of slave cemeteries is a particularly sensitive issue on an island of which the population predominantly descends from enslaved Africans.

 

What affects the inhabitant's perception of NuStar Energy as a responsible corporate citizen is the fact that alternatives are available. However, these will involve higher investments and NuStar is therefore consistently turning them down. This leads to the notion that in the eyes of NuStar Energy, the people of St. Eustatius - the island that contributes more to NuStar Energy's profits than any other of their sites - are not worth spending more money for. This negative perception of NuStar Energy has already started to spread - to the Dutch politcal arena and internationally.
http://no-to-nustar-expansion-steustatius.blogspot.com/

 

Good corporate citizenship has rightly become an important part of a company's sustainability. NuStar Energy L.P. is currently putting theirs at risk by not showing respect to the community that harbors the biggest contributor to their profits.

 

Sincerely 

Schools within 'blast distance' of planned oil tankers?

Contribution of Menno Walther, St. Eustatius

Nustar is working hard on their extension project. Different people expressed their opinion, questions have been asked. Some answers have been given, but not many. Lately, Nustar described the project in the Daily Herald. Based on what was written, I have to ask myself if we – people living in Statia – will be safe…

Accidents are always possible. In the past, people warned of disasters but have not been taken seriously. Chernobyl,  WTC New York 9/11, Bophal, Seveso, and most recently Fukushima, etc…

Nustar's plan is to build 31 additional storage tanks at the location known as The Farm. This location is our backyard. In the event of an accident, we will not just be the audience, we will be part of the problem. Some distances for all of us to consider:

From the Farm to the Golden Rock Quarter, 700 meters (less than half a mile)

From the Farm to the Golden Rock school, the GWP school and the playground, 500 meters (1/3 of a mile)

From the Farm to the airport runway, 700 meters (less than half a mile)

From the Farm to the center of Oranjestad, 1'000 meters (2/3 of a mile)

People of Statia should be aware that storage tanks fires or explosions happen every year somewhere in the World. An interesting study shows that between 1960 and 2003, 64 storage accidents occurred worldwide. More than one per year in average. http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/3862917/1523127472/name/StorageTankFiresStudy.pdf.

Interestingly, Nustar rejected another option for a location. They said the location is too close to their office, inside the so called "blast distance". What about our children at school just next to the Farm (500 meters - 1/3 of a mile) ? Is the school located outside the "blast distance" ?

Let's have a look at two examples of recent oil storage disasters :

On December 11, 2005, the Buncefield oil storage terminal near London exploded and caught fire. The blast was audible at a distance of 200 km (125 miles), and all the windows were blown out within a radius of 8 km (5 miles). Entire buildings have been destroyed within a radius of 2 km (1 1/4 mile, see picture below). By the way, Oranjestad is within such a radius from the Farm. The fire fighting efforts required 45 vehicles and 180 firefighters. The fire was finally extinguished on December 15th…, 5 days later. More details (for instance the impact of the fire fighting on the environment) on  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buncefield_fire. The description of this disaster made by wikipedia is very interesting. Lots of questions are coming up by them selves… This happened in the UK, not even six years ago.

"Buncefield can never happen again" they said… The picture below was taken not far from here, and in a recent past. On October 25th 2009, the Caribbean Petroleum Corp. (CAPECO) facility in San Juan Puerto Rico caught fire. At least 17 of the 40 tanks burned down. Nobody was hurt, apparently thanks to the "buffer zones" (distance between the facility and the areas where people are living). Nevertheless, 1'500 people have been evacuated from a neighborhood. But in case of such a fire, the entire island of Statia would not be big enough to protect our lives, our homes and our businesses. Maybe a stupid question: where to and how would we evacuate? The airport will not be usable, nor would the route to the harbor. What about our medical capacity ?  http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/world/2009/10/24/33655/Hundreds-evacuated-as-Puerto-Rico-oil-blaze-burns-on.

On top of the "normal" risks, the chosen location by Nustar is exposed to an additional threat. As visible on the map, the Farm (and therefore the storage tanks) is located in the prolongation of the runway of the airport. More than 80% of all aircraft accidents take place during take off or landing. Imagine if there was a plane accident on top of those tanks.

Based on all those facts, and based on the fact that we need to consider the worth case scenario in this matter, my questions are very simple:

• Would Statia be able to manage such a disaster ? Consider how little fire and emergency equipment exists on the island.
• Would Nustar be able to provide the necessary means within no time to fight this kind of catastrophe?
• And last but not least, is the risk acceptable for the people living in Statia?

Some of us are parents. I don't think we want to leave a time bomb to the next generation !

My suggestion, it would be wise and responsible to appoint an independent safety expert. I hope our representatives in the government will do so.

Support for NuStar Statia referendum

Yesterday, the Dutch parliamentary committee of Kingdom Relations discussed the NuStar expansion plans (among other things). Political parties Socialist Party (SP), GroenLinks, and PvdA now seem to be in favor of a referendum for the Statia people.

SEAD is not in favor of a referendum because the necessary conditions cannot be met on the island (freedom of speech, public access to information, absence of intimidation). We'll come back to that in a separate blog post.


 Questions were also being asked to minister Donner about whether or not the Dutch government was supposed to be involved in the decision making on the building permit for NuStar.

The Minister said that primarily the decision making was a matter of local government and secondarily, other Minsters than himself should be addressed. In earlier meetings however, Donner had assured Parliament that the Dutch Government would be involved in the decision-making process.

Read the full article in The Daily Herald: Support for NuStar Statia referendum

NuStar expansion plan will change Statia’s face forever

An extensive article in The Daily Herald today on the NuStar expansion by Suzanne Koelega.

"The NuStar oil terminal expansion plan in St. Eustatius is a clear example of a clash between business interests and development, and nature and cultural and archaeological heritage on a limited amount of land." Read the full article

Voices of Protest

"How many of you are there?" people often ask SEAD. That's hard to say because SEAD is a grass-root movement and doesn't have members. What we do have is support from people all over the world. People that encourage us, advice us, and help us in many ways to do what we're doing.

We are also the voice of many people in Statia who can't speak out in public because repercussions would be severe.

SEAD meets every Saturday night at the Congo Preserve in Statia where all people are welcome to join the discussion or just listen.

In the St. Maarten newspaper The Daily Herald a lot of Statia people voice their opinion on the NuStar's expansion plans in a letter to the editor.

• Her Majesty Queen Beatrix on Statia? by James Russell (September 5, 2011
• Time is running out for St. Eustatius by Joe F. Taylor (September 3, 2011)
• You reap what you sow by  Ernie Simmons (August 31, 2011)
• Silence of government on NuStar expansion
• Selling our souls to NuStar?
• What kind of Statia do you want?
• St. Eustatius’ (Statia’s) future on sale to a high bidder? 

Statia News is another local news source where people can express their opinion or read about others.If you want to send in your contribution, mail to info@statianews.com or ask if you can be added to their mailing list.

A matter of proportion

When you use your common sense, it's very obvious why another NuStar terminal on St. Eustatius is just an outrageous idea. Picture this: 

• Statia is an island of 22 sq. km (8 sq. miles) with 2886 inhabitants. To give you an idea: that's the size of Dutch city Leiden or 1 third of Manhattan.
• NuStar already built 67 tanks, and wants to add another 31 (source Nustar website). Total amount of tanks would then be 98. So we have 1 oil tank on every 30 inhabitants. That must be a Guiness World Record.
• Two third of the island is mountain area, one third is where people live, work, go to school and relax. The proposed expansion area is within 1 km of all that.
• Statia is an island. That means it is isolated. It has no regular sea ferries and only 5 outgoing air flights a day. Statia has 1 fire department and 1 small hospital not equipped for trauma treatment. 

Imagine

• .. within the city borders of Leiden almost 100 oil tanks are present
• .. something happens that is not suppose to happen, and a major fire breaks out. Remember Bonaire? (13 times bigger than Statia)

 Our point? NuStar's presence on the island is out of proportion and far too risky.

NuStar's True Color

An Investment in Statia's Future? (photo from Nustar website)

If you read the text on NuStar’s website and the contributions of its representative in Statia News, you would almost think that all opponents of the expansion are out of their mind. NuStar just wants to make Statia a better place, give people jobs, provide for all foundations and bring prosperity and glory to the island. If you’re one of those people, please take a moment to grasp the following.

NuStar’s true goal: profit and growth

Let’s look at some facts: NuStar is the second largest oil terminal operator in the US, and the fourth largest in the world; NuStar is a listed company on the New York Stock Exchange and recently entered the Fortune 500 list (annual ranking of America’s largest corporations); the figures that got them there: revenues 4,403.1 million, profits 239 million over the year 2010. Source: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2011/full_list/.

The ultimate goal of NuStar, as every business, is to make money. To continue to make money, businesses need to grow and expand. So does NuStar. So it can’t come as a surprise, to read on NuStar’s website that part of its mission is: “aggressively pursuing growth opportunities, both domestically and internationally”. Source: http://www.nustarenergy.com/company/Pages/OurMission.aspx.

Following more facts: NuStar holds 65 terminal and storage facilities around the world. Measured by storage capacity, Statia terminal is by far the largest of all (13 million barrels). Statia’s storage capacity alone is just as big as 25% of all 55 NuStar’s terminals in the United States (50.6 barrels). Source: NuStar Annual Report 2010. So at this point in time, it’s fair to say that Statia is NuStar’s crown jewel, a major source of income.

But there’s more. In the transcripts of a NuStar Investors Conference, we read that international storage business has been a very big growth area for NuStar. Within that storage business, Statia has been a focal point for NuStar’s growth and will continue to be: “We bought that terminal, it was 11 million barrels; it's up to 13 million barrels. We're building another million now to get it to 14 million. And we think the potential is much, much larger than that in terms of the customer interest. So you will continue to see growth CapEx and growth in St. Eustatius.” Source:  NuStarGP Holdings LLC at NAPTP MLP Investor Conference, May 26, 2011. So it’s fair to say that NuStar expansion plans are not going to stop with the one in the Farm area.  Statia is NuStar’s guarantee for growth.

NuStar’s true interest in Statia: low taxes and ultimate transshipment point

Why NuStar loves Statia? Statia was a bargain to start with: we can only guess how and for how much money NuStar predecessor has bought land on Statia. Where else does a company enjoy special tax agreements, no anchorage fees, find cheap labor, and an almost absence of unions, environmental groups, and environmental law control bodies? But most significant, where else in the world would NuStar find a place that is located at the crossroads of major shipping routes and that takes the biggest ships in the world? Statia is one of the major transshipment points in the world, and that makes it one of NuStar’s most profitable assets. Exactly like in the 18^th century for the West-Indische Compagnie. And Statia’s government is giving it to Nustar for a mere pittance; afraid it may pack and leave.

NuStar’s tactics: dollars and deception

Now let’s go a little bit deeper into NuStar’s rhetoric. We already saw how valuable Statia is to NuStar. To keep all these huge interests safe, it is important for NuStar to get (and keep) local government and community on its side. How does NuStar do that? By using techniques of deception: camouflage, lots of euphemisms, overemphasizing its truthfulness, hedging their statements, and marginalizing or just ignoring the negative issues. 

1. Deception by camouflage

NuStar is camouflaging itself as a good corporate citizen by throwing a few thousand dollars around (crumbs compared to the millions they make each year), and call that “heavily investing in the island” and “serving the Statia community”. They make it sound like the whole $ 477 million is an investment in the island instead of in the company itself. NuStar also wants us to believe that it ‘beautifies our island’ by supporting Stenapa. Painfully quiet Stenapa.

2. Deception by overemphasizing truthfulness

NuStar is emphasizing over and over how it is committed to an open and honest dialogue, and what a good corporate citizen it is. Notice for example how Mr. Smith copies and pastes large amounts of propagandistic text from NuStar’s expansion website with every chance he gets. 

NuStar is also overemphasizing how safety is its top priority. Fact is that most accidents are caused by human failure, and that no safety regulation will protect us in case of earthquakes or major hurricanes. Remember Japan, Fukushima? And what safety regulation is able to evacuate all Statia’s inhabitants in case something happens? Which surrounding fire department will come to assist in case of major fire? How is Statia’s hospital going to handle casualties on a large scale? We will be trapped on a small little island with only the ocean to flee into. We find that a very disturbing thought. 

3. Deception by using euphemisms and hedging statements

When NuStar talks about risks, impact and dangers, it uses the following phrases a lot: “as much as possible”, “we are going to great length”, “low impact”, “minimize risks”. E.g. “minimizing the tanks’ impact on the island’s scenic views”, “the risk of emissions and vapors are extremely low”. It all sounds very nice, but in fact is meaningless because the risks, danger, impact etc. are still there. NuStar even thinks we’re stupid enough to believe that by painting the tanks and planting a few trees, we won’t see them anymore. According to NuStar, they will be “integrated into the landscape”. Are they serious? 

4. Deception by marginalizing and ignoring

In all NuStar’s communication, you will see that they marginalize or just ignore issues like pollution, risks of oil spill accidents, close distance to schools, damage to eco-systems, destruction of cultural heritage, impact on tourism growth, no access to the beach and dive sites at Smoke Alley. 

NuStar’s True Color

So is NuStar the devil? No. NuStar is a multibillion dollar multinational that simply needs to keep its stockholders a lot happier than the community of Statia. But luckily for NuStar, it only takes some deceptive rhetoric and a few thousand dollars to keep Statia’s government, organizations and community happy.

Main point of discussion: economical development

A lot of people already voiced their opinion on NuStar’s expansion plans. We think that nobody, not even NuStar, is able to deny that there will be an increase in danger, damage, and destruction in several areas. NuStar is desperately trying to pull the wool over our eyes, but luckily a lot of people have sense enough to see through this.

But there is another fact we cannot deny. And that is that NuStar is the largest private employer on the island, and the expansion will definitely bring more economical activity. That is on the short term. The question is how –in the long run – this will benefit the island. We already made clear that NuStar needs to expand and that it is using deceptive tactics to reach that goal. How far are we willing to let NuStar expand? How much more power are we willing to voluntarily give them? How will Statia benefit if our hotels, shops, rental houses, apartments, and cars for the most part depend on one sole purchaser?

Would it really be such a good idea, as Mr. Sneek proposes, to let Nustar help our government fix our roads, relocate the harbor, and be involved in electricity production? Our fear should not be whether NuStar one day will pack and leave, but how much more NuStar is going to expand. The more they grow, the more people, businesses and government will depend on them. Eventually, NuStar is going to make all decisions, and we can’t bite because there’s no other hand that feeds us. St. NuStar, the Crude Oil Rock.

Determine our own future

We as a people fought almost 200 years for our freedom. We suffered tremendous pain and made great sacrifices to finally gain the right to determine our own future and our own destiny. It is more than sad to witness what we are doing with these rights. With a shortsighted, lazy attitude and dollar signs in our eyes, a lot of us, including our government, are willing to put Statia’s future solely into the hands of a foreign multinational.

Why can’t we work just a little bit longer and a little bit harder, polish our unique selling points (nature, identity, cultural heritage) and shine? It may not come just as easy or fast, but at least we can look into our children’s eyes and tell them, for better or for worse, we kept control over our own destiny.

DP Chairman Accuses Statia's Government of Lack of Transparency

In today's Daily Herald, Chairman of St. Eustatius Democratic Party Ernie Simmons, expresses some harsh words about the ruling coalition partners in Statia's government. Among other things, he accuses the coalition of a lack of transparency concerning the NuStar expansion plans. He states:

"Three political leaders of parties are meeting privately with NUstar regarding the expansion plans of the Statia Oil Terminal. No information regarding these meetings is made available to the Island Council. No one seems to know what they are discussing, what are their wishes and demands and what promises are being made." Read the full article

UNESCO Nomination File: St. Eustatius as World Heritage Site

Why we think St. Eustatius is of "outstanding universal value" and can meet the cultural and natural criteria of UNESCO:

• Cultural: "Bears a unique or exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared"(UNESCO 3rd criteria)
  See blog entry "Heritage Trail"

• Natural: "Contains the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation." (UNESCO 10th criteria) 
  See blog entry "Statia: 'Ecological wonder of nature'"

Statia is also of great value to UNESCO's Slave Route Project

SEAD wrote a letter to UNESCO to help us protect our outstanding universal values. Read the article in The Daily Herald (July 18, 2011)

Destruction of Coral Reefs

In 2007 Stenapa published an impact study that showed that NuStar's oil vessels caused considerable damage to Statia's marine park.

According to the same report, the marine park is one of the top 5 sites in the Caribbean to see healthy coral and fish populations.

A few quotations from the report:

"Anchoring is the main threat to the marine resources caused by the operations of Statia Terminals NV, although pollution is also an important issue with sewage and other wastes including ballast waters entering St Eustatius Marine Park waters from vessels."

"Anchors cause damage to coral reefs during setting, retrieval, and while at anchor;

• Setting: Corals are broken, fragmented, or overturned as the anchor drops into the substratum.
• While at anchor: Once set, further damage occurs by the chain dragging across the substratum or rapping around reef structures
• Retrieval: anchors are dragged along the substrate as the vessel manoeuvres, turning reef into rubble and leaving an anchorage scar.

Coral takes thousands of years to build and the dragging and swinging of large anchor cables and chains destroys coral heads and creates gouges and scars that destabilize the reef structure. The fragile nature of coral reefs also means that they do not provide for stable anchoring. Regeneration of coral reefs from such damage may never occur."

Source: Tanker Anchoring Impact Study and Recommendations St Eustatius Marine Park, by St. Eustatius National Parks (Stenapa), October 2007, page 8. Retrieved August 28, 2011

Statia: 'Ecological wonder of nature'

Photo from Stenapa website

"Statia has special trees, snakes, sea turtles, birds, whales and fish. It is surrounded by coral reefs and meadows of sea grass on which the sea turtle feeds. On the island desert-like areas with cactus gradually make way for rainforest and primeval forest. The entire picture answers to the cliché of a tropical island paradise. There are complete ecosystems and habitats where the most exceptional sorts of plants and animals can be found. Threatened species such as the red-bellied racer snake, the lesser Antillean iguana, the giant queen conch shell and the brown pelican feel at home here. ‘Or species that were believed to have become extinct, such as the Statia morning glory''"  

Fragment from the article "St. Eustatius: A Diamond in the Rough" by Baud Schoenmaeckers in Change Magazine, special issue on Biodiversity on Bonaire, Statia and Saba, 2011, Volume 6 (2010), Issue 3, page 18.

History of Schotsenhoek Plantation

"There is a lot of commotion around the proposed plans to expand the oil terminal on Sint Eustatius. It is primarily built on the former cattle plantation “Schotsenhoek.” It is interesting to know some of the history of the plantation and its former owners. In this article I will also quote from correspondence with my friend Walter Hellebrand of Sint Eustatius."



Article in The Daily Herald of Friday, August 19, 2011 on the history of the Schotsenhoek Plantation by Will Johnson. Read the full article