Noxious fumes tracked to Petrojam, again

The environment and climate change minister Robert Pickersgill is reporting that the source of the noxious fumes in sections of the corporate area earlier this week has been tracked to the Petrojam Refinery on Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston.

And he is warning that the development could trigger a strong enforcement action against the company.

In a statement issued a short while ago, Pickersgill said, based on the tracking of the odour and telephone calls by residents, Petrojam was one of the first locations visited by officers of the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA).

He also said Petrojam has since confirmed that the facility experienced operational issues that resulted in the release of a petroleum-based product into the environment.

The statement did not specify the product or the effects it could cause.

“I have instructed NEPA to immediately investigate the reasons why Petrojam failed to report the pollution incident which is a requirement in keeping with its environmental permit,” Pickersgill said.

He says Petrojam’s failure to report the incident caused NEPA unnecessary expenses and inconvenienced members of the public.

He also revealed that some schools had to be closed because of the fumes.

This is the second time in six months that noxious fumes in the environment has been linked to Petrojam.

According to Pickersgill, the public can be assured that cases of pollution will always be quickly investigated.

He has apologised to members of the public who were inconvenienced.

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