La Brea beaches clean

Last Friday, president of the La Brea Fisherfolk Association, Alvin La Borde, said oil pellets had been observed staining the brown sands at Carrat Shed and Coffee beaches during the early morning hours. He observed that not only were the oil pellets proving to be a nuisance to fisherfolk who use a portion of the beach to anchor their boats, but it was also hampering tourism in La Brea as a group of tourists stopped by Carrat Shed beach after visiting the Pitch Lake but left after venturing into the water with clumps of oil sticking to their feet.

In a media release yesterday, the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) stated that the Coffee, Carat Shed, Pointe Sable and Station beaches as well as beaches at Fullerton, which had been affected by the washing ashore of “tar balls” had been completed.

The EMA stated that site visits conducted by its officers confirmed that Fullerton Beach was “successfully cleaned by community representatives, with the assistance of Petrotrin, while at La Brea, clean-up was conducted by Petrotrin, as part of its corporate social responsibility efforts in the area.” “No upset conditions were identified at Petrotrin’s onshore or offshore operations,” the EMA stated after fisherfolk observed that the oil could be emanating from either a fuel bunkering barge or an oil well.