DEH mops up Brac oil leak

(CNS): An oil spill at the Brac dump last week was from the used oil at the site that had been stored in deteriorating 5-gallon buckets and 55-gallon drums that were open and partially filled. According to the director of the Department of Environmental Health (DEH), who personally supervised the clean-up, there was evidence that the drums were “knocked or tipped over, either accidentally or deliberately, and those oils significantly contributed to the oil spill on site”. Roydell Carter said that some of the small plastic containers had started to deteriorate and leak but did not contribute significantly to the oil spillage. Photos of a thick layer of oil seeping directly into the ground were taken by Brac resident Dalkeith Ebanks. CNS send the pictures on to Carter and the minister responsible, Osbourne Bodden, and Deputy Premier Moses Kirkconnell, who has responsibility for the Sister Islands.

The next day, Thursday 3 July, the DEH director travelled to Cayman Brac to supervise the clean-up, along with the DEH foreman of recycling operations. Working with the DEH’s Brac team and an un-named private company, the spilled oil and soil was collected and placed in a separate area of the landfill for further processing.

“All of the remaining used oils in the small containers were transferred to new 55-gallon drums and secured on site. The area now has new soil material in place,” he stated.

Explaining how this could have happened, Carter said that, in addition to the poor storage conditions, the used oils were being stored on a sloped area, "which caused the spilled oils to accumulate in a designated area making the clean-up process fairly straight forward without any difficulty.” However, he admitted that there was “definitely room for improvements in the landfill operations and recycling programmes on the Sister Islands” and said that the staff would also undergo necessary training to improve operations.

DEH staff do monitor the site periodically, he maintained, but members of the public can bring in used oils at any time in any kind of container.

“The public can also tamper with what is on site since the landfill is unsecured at this time. Staff were aware that some containers had unsecured covers and others had secured lids but may develop slow leaks,” he said. “As previously mentioned it appeared that some used oil containers were recently knocked over or tipped over, whether deliberately or accidently.”

The director said that the DEH will make some additional improvements to the used oil storage on the Brac, which will include using a different storage area at the landfill, proper signage, use of recently acquired purpose-built oil storage and shipping tanks that can hold about 350 gallons of used oils, and transfer of the used oils when the containers are full.

“All used oils brought to the landfill site by the public in improper containers will be transferred on a regular basis to the new used old storage and shipping tanks that will soon be on site,” he said. “Meanwhile, used oils will continue to be temporarily stored in good quality 55-gallon drums that can be secured to prevent oil spillage.”

There is a used oil programme for the Sister Islands where the accumulated oil is shipped once or twice a year‎ to Grand Cayman, Carter explained. The shipment frequency depends on used oil volumes but generally the used oils are transferred between June and July. He said the oil now at the Brac site was placed there by the public since removal last year.

“The DEH has a plan in place to remove all used oils on site this month since the new budget has been approved and this will be an ongoing programme,” the director stated.

“The DEH recycling team has already transferred the used oils at the site into new sturdy 55-gallon drums in preparation for transfer to Grand Cayman this month for further processing, where the old will be tested and combined with the other oil supplies for final shipment off-island to a recycling facility in the United States. All used oils on the Sister Islands will be shipped to Grand Cayman for further processing,” he said.

“The DEH would like the Brac public not to interfere with the oil storage area or remove any items from the landfill site as in the process they may cause an accident, spillage as they may be hurt or injured in the process if the items are not properly secured,” Carter said.

In addition, he said there would be further education of the Cayman Brac public about recycling and the need to properly store oil on the site. The plans, he said, may include closing the landfill to the public after certain hours to enable better management control of the site and to reduce and prevent incidents from occurring when the site is unattended.”

Asked about Little Cayman, he said there is a secured used oil storage area ‎on that island which does not have any problems.

“There is definitely room for improvements in the landfill operations and recycling programmes on the Sister Islands and the public will see and hear more about the procedures and programmes this year,” he stated.