Grade ‘A’ for Atlantic LNG in Environmental Management

The Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS) has given Atlantic LNG a ‘thumbs up’ for the maintenance of high environmental standard, a statement from the company said. The TTBS is the local registrar of the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO) and is responsible for issuing and auditing of the ISO 14001 standard. ISO 14000 is an international voluntary standard to which organisations may conform to demonstrate sound environmental management practices. It sets out the requirements for the development and maintenance of environmental management systems that can be measured against internationally accepted criteria.

The ISO standard also helps to promote a common approach to environmental management while at the same time helping organisations to improve their ability to attain and measure improvements in environmental performance. The TTBS conducted an audit of the Atlantic LNG Environmental Management System (EMS) in July to ensure that it was being maintained in line with the requirements of ISO 14001. The company has maintained its certification and no major instances of non-conformance were identified. HSE Manager, Himalaya Boodoosingh said that the company’s environmental programmes were evaluated for all three operating trains, even though Train 1 is the only facility that is currently included in the scope of certification. Trains 2 and 3 were not yet operational when ISO certification was first obtained. Atlantic LNG gained ISO 14001 certification for Train 1 in December 2001. To maintain this certification which normally lasts for three years, the company must undergo regular surveillance audits by auditors from the local ISO registrar. Atlantic LNG plans to expand the scope of certification to include all three trains in time for the next surveillance audit scheduled for February 2004.