Another oil spill in La Brea

And while clean-up efforts were immediately undertaken by Stateowned oil company, Petrotrin, with several contractors dispatched to the area, the source of the spill was being disputed by the Company and fisherfolk who observed that the spill had been predicted several days earlier.

In a media statement, Petrotrin observed that “following the heavy rainfall over the weekend, oil was observed along the shoreline of Carrat Shed and Coffee beaches in La Brea.

“The source of the pollution has not yet been identified however mindful of its commitment to the environment as well as its obligation under the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP) Petrotrin initiated a clean-up response and has engaged the services of contractors to contain and remove the contamination from the shoreline and affected areas,” Petrotrin stated.

However, La Brea Fisherfolk Association president, Alvin La Borde, disputed that claim saying he had warned Petrotrin about abandonment work at an old rig could result in an oil spill and to take the necessary precautionary measures.

“The well has not been worked over and that is a well that fell into the sea,” La Borde said.

“We advised Petrotrin officials to put the oil spill booms in place and have it surround the area, so that any mishap that takes place it would be contained in that area and would not come to the shorelines of that beach,” he said.

He continued, “Lo and behold, yesterday afternoon, I was alerted by one of the fisherfolk members that a lot of oil got away from the well and they (the oil services company) were piping the oil with their boats trying to contain the oil.” Told about the Petrotrin statement, he said no oil had been observed along Carrat Shed beach over the weekend but had washed ashore yesterday morning.

When Newsday visited the area, small patches of an oily sheen were observed on some rocks along the coastline. However one resident said the high tides had carried the oil out to sea and may be brought back on land during low tide.