Spanish Lookout's water supply may have been tainted by an oil spill at a Belize Natural Energy oil well last week. 7NEWS has confirmed that on Thursday there was a malfunction at the well-named Mike Usher #2 which, as this photo shows, is adjacent to the Spanish Lookout water reservoir. Information to 7NEWS is that there was a malfunction in the device that separates the natural gas from the crude oil.

Typically, the natural gas is sent to the burner but on Thursday night at around 11 - the malfunction caused oil to be sent there instead. That caused a light mist of oil to be emitted from the burner and dispersed across the area. It continued unchecked though the night - and was not corrected until Friday morning.

Levi Kornellson who runs nearby Esso Gas Station on Center Road told us that he had to scrub and hose his building to remove the oil residue. According to the Department of the Environment, residue of the oil mist was found across a 200 yard radius. BNE, reportedly, claims that it only extended 50 yards from the burner. And the position also seems to be that only 30 gallons of oil were dispersed but we could not determine how that figure was arrived at. Despite numerous attempts, no one at BNE was available for comment or clarification on any issue.

The Spanish Lookout water reservoir supplies the residents of Spanish Lookout with their drinking water, and also serves Quality Poultry Products, the country's largest producer of chicken and eggs. Today BWSL's PR personnel did not respond to our questions about water quality issues that could arise. And while the water is one concern, the other is that there is no emergency preparedness plan in place. And that's because BNE has still not submitted an environmental impact assessment, even though the Department of environment requested it in May.

Environmentalists warn that without an emergency plan, there is a potential for future disasters. And it's not only the EIA process that's been overlooked - BNE has not submitted a report for this event, nor for a recent, small spill at the Big Creek Port. It's notable also that BNE only called the DOE, almost 24 hours after this one happened.