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