The Department Of Environment issued a stop order against ASR/BSI today - telling the company that it has to quit dumping spoilt molasses into ponds. As we've been reporting for the past two days, a large volume of molasses went bad in storage tanks at the Tower Hill Factory in Orange Walk. For the company and the farmers it's a loss of revenue, but it's also a major disposal problem since molasses poses major threats to waterways. Yesterday, ASR/BSI's Environmental Health & Safety Superintendent told the media that the molasses have been moved out of the tanks and into ponds:
Brittany Meighan - Environmental Health, BSI
"Firstly, I wouldn't consider the molasses contaminated because the molasses is no longer molasses after this reaction. Its a completely different product and the way we are storing it is by having everything contained. There have been no breaches to water bodies. Everything is contained and there's been no spillages."
Reporter
"So, the molasses are still in the tank as we speak?"
Brittany Meighan - Environmental Health, BSI
"No, currently we have them temporarily stored in ponds that are contained. We are still waiting for the department of the environment to give us some more confirmation to make sure that our method of disposal is appropriate and abides by all regulations."
Well, the Department Of the Environment says the company didn't abide by regulations in transferring the molasses to the ponds in the first place. Today the Department sent a team of senior technicians to make an assessment, and they also issued an enforcement or stop order, telling the company to stop putting the affected molasses in ponds. CEO Colin Young told us more via telephone:
Colin Young, CEO, Min. /fisheries, forestry, Environment, Sustainable Dev.
"We have been to the BSI and in fact I have a team up there today and our concern is twofold. One, whether or not the initial disposal of the molasses was in compliance with the terms of the ECP. Two, to work with the company to advise them in terms of the best environmentally safe way to dispose of the molasses. In fact today I think they are being issued the enforcement notice regarding they need to stop dumping the molasses in any pond until we find a way to properly dispose of it. If there's any violations then as for the EPA we will to proceed and look at that as well."
Jules Vasquez
"With the present storage in ponds, is there any risk of leeching?"
Colin Young, CEO, Min. /fisheries, forestry, Environment, Sustainable Dev.
"Well that is what we want to ascertain definitively. The pond that currently has some of the molasses is filled and is not connected to any other of the ponds. However I was also informed that in the event that there's lots of rain there may be the potential that there can be runoff."
Jules Vasquez
"What really right now is the greatest risk with this large volume of molasses?"
Colin Young, CEO, Min. /fisheries, forestry, Environment, Sustainable Dev.
"It's a potential risk at this stage from what I've been told and their trying to mitigate it but the risk is obviously if the volume of molasses were to get into the river, it would in fact cause a substantial negative impact on the river. Fish kills, you could imagine as you rightly said, the oxygen level depleting and all of that. We're trying to mitigate that and I have to say that the company has been quite willing to work with the department of environment to find the best possible way to ensure that there's no environmental impact."
And to minimize that impact, BSI is proposing to dump it all into a pit. The Department had a different plan - to use it as fertilize, but the company balked at that. CEO Young explained both scenarios:
Colin Young - CEO, Min/Fisheries, Forestry, Environment , Sustainable Dev.
"In the past, the department had recommended that molasses can be used on the field because it's a good fertilizer but in this case, the volumes are so high and because of the chemical reaction it will get so hard that it will require treatment before it can be put on the fields. From what I have heard from BSI, they don't prefer that method because it might be costly and the volume is high. So, they are exploring a pit to put it in and we want to ensure that if that's an option then that's its some place that is far away from any water source so that there's no ground water contamination or any connection whatsoever with any water bodies."
ASR/BSI says it is waiting for the DOE to confirm a method of disposal. The company stresses that they received an enforcement order, not a stop order, which simply means that they have to follow the directives from the DOE.
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