“The ESG is watching the scenario unfold off the Caleta coastline with deep concern.

It is alarming to see heavy fuel now escaping boom containment and moving into open water. Impacts will be damaging to our natural environment and indeed to our communities should tides move this slick onto land- we do not understand how this spill has not been contained, running clearly past the containment boom.

We are concerned the worst-case scenario could now be before us and feel saddened and angry for our environment. The ESG hopes recovery efforts as described are as successful as possible in limiting the spread and removal of oil –even though, as is well established, traces of this contamination will remain in the environment for some time to come.

The group adds it is willing to assist wherever possible and calls on the public to report any sightings of affected wildlife to the Department of the Environment.”

http://www.esg-gib.net/wp-content/uploads/documents/Spanish-Flaring-Leaflet.pdf

SEE BELOW ENGLISH TEXT FROM LEAFLET

THE FLARES  – EVERYTHING YOU SHOULD KNOW:

1. What are flares? The word “flare” is used to describe a flame that is burning off excess gas. This process usually occurs in refineries, as well as in certain chemical plants. These gases are generated when the production process is not working properly, when there is a loss of energy, or when the gases are released during maintenance periods. There are more flares in oil and gas production plants than in refineries. It also occurs in some mines, as well as many garbage dumps.

2. What is the biggest problem with flares? The flares, in short periods of time, emit large amounts of gas into the environment. They are prone to problems related to wind turbulence, and to gases not burning properly due to lack of time and temperature variations. All this contributes to the gases burning in a “dirty” way. One of the main problems with torches is that their efficiency is essentially unknown. It is often the case that refiners cite manufacturers’ specifications, as refinery operators are unaware of their own efficiency. Research carried out by the Alberta Research Council (Canada) also suggests that the number and volume of potentially toxic components escaping into the environment due to incomplete combustion are higher than previously suspected. Flaring also contributes to a number of environmental problems, such as eco-inefficiency, resource depletion, global warming, and acid deposition.

3. Why do refineries release flares or torches? These flares are intended to protect the refinery, and release the gases beyond the work areas. Therefore, its purpose is not to protect the health of those who live beyond the industrial area. Refineries use flares as a safety device with which excess gases are removed. A buildup of gases can increase pressure in the plant and cause an explosion. Some refineries flare more than they should as they use this method to dispose of waste. In the south of Durban, refineries flare up due to operational and maintenance failures, as well as for emergencies. It is interesting to know how under Engen’s new production permit, dated December 2004, refineries are not allowed to use flares for economic reasons.

4. Why do some flares emit toxic smoke? If a torch emits smoke, it is not a good torch, since what it is emitting is not being completely burned. Both Engen and Sapref in Durban gave their torches more propulsion, and this helped the flares burn properly. If a torch smokes, if the flare is very high, this practice must be denounced. Torches also smoke because the volume of gas is such that the flame cannot completely burn it.

5. Why do the flares produce such strong odors?
Many gases are emitted into the environment during the entire time that the chimneys emit flares or torches. If the flare is “good”, it is only emitting carbon dioxide (CO2) and water. Since gas analysis is not done in stacks, and can only be done in laboratories, it would be a stretch to say that there are 2 gases that can make a torch smell – sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. Sulphur dioxide (SO2) is a colorless gas with a strong odor, irritates the respiratory system, and can cause or aggravate the condition of patients with asthma or bronchitis. Babies whose mothers have been subjected continuously or for long periods of time to this type of contamination during pregnancy, may be born with a predisposition to these diseases. Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) is a highly dangerous chemical. It smells like rotten eggs. Shell’s safety committee issued an information leaflet in December 1986 explaining, “The greatest danger of hydrogen sulfide is that it can cause sudden death if inhaled in concentrated doses. Torches or flares normally emit amounts of toxic substances that are well below lethal concentrations, but are high enough to be recognized by their distinctive odor, and cause nausea and vomiting.

Another fact to take into account regarding contamination by hydrogen sulfide is that ones sense of smell becomes used to the bad smell and no longer detects it, and after a while you no longer smell it. There is then the risk that this contaminating substance can reach lethal levels and those affected do not realise it.

6. What polluting substances are issued when there are flares? According to the Public Health Association of Canada, and according to its “Position 2000” document, 250 different toxins have been identified. Among these are the following:

7. Can flares damage health? Certain polluting compounds aggravate respiratory diseases such as asthma. The “EPA Enforcement Alert October 2000” of the United States says the following:

Hydrogen Sulfide is considered a cyanide-like toxin. Flaring torches can produce high concentrations of sulphur dioxide in the environment. Those people who could be exposed even for short periods of time to high levels of sulphur dioxide may suffer lung damage that would be accompanied by discomfort such as shortness of breath due to congestion of the respiratory tract.

8. Can the torches or flares affect air quality? Flares can affect air quality, particularly if they are not burning well. Stations for observing air quality have detected an increase in solid particles during those periods in which the chimneys have been emitting torches or flames. It is also known to increase hydrogen sulfide concentrations at ground level. Flares also cause carbon dioxide levels to rise. Incomplete combustion emits solid particles (soot) and hydrocarbons into the atmosphere that are harmful to health. Studies conducted in Houston, Texas, reveal that smog levels can increase as a result of increased flares, which in turn increase VOC and sulphur dioxide emissions.

Solid particles (soot) Benzene
Benzoprine
Carbon di-sulphide (CS) Carbonyl Sulphide (Cos) toluene

Mercury
And many more.

INFORMATION: THE BAY BUCKET BRIGADE IN COLABORATION WITH “LA PLATAFORMA POR EL ESTUDIO EPIDEMIOLOGICO YA!”

JUNE 2006

The ESG shares the alarm expressed around the Bay over the major flaring incident that occurred yesterday evening

While a mishap at a substation in Pinar del Rey was believed to be the cause of the power failure in Spanish towns, which reportedly was resumed after 20 minutes, the emergency flaring, caused by power failure, did not normalise until close to 3 hours later!!

.

Picture supplied courtesy of John Sanchez

We were advised in our refinery campaigning days that flaring releases untold levels of toxic chemicals into the surrounding environment and must therefore be limited to the shortest possible period. That best practice should see back up power supply at the industry to restore power and limit flaring as quickly as possible, in a matter of minutes.

Best practice on this occasion, did not prevent the noxious fumes which continued for close to 3 hours yesterday.

The ESG calls for an official enquiry to be placed by our Government to establish all the facts and to clarify whether emergency power supply is in place at this refinery to limit this extended and dangerous flaring practice, which is a cross border environmental and public health hazard.

*** Visit Resources Page for access to reports on pollution including Flaring.

ESG Radio Broadcast wk beginning 1^st August 2022

Hello, what a time it has been for those dealing with the terrible fire which affected our water production and consequent total loss of potable water for a sizeable minority. For those with no water for 4 days it really rammed home how quickly life can change without this vital resource. Luckily many more people are now back with water today and hopefully those remaining will have their supply finally restored.

So we hope we can turn our minds to other matters, but, before we do that, we would also like to thank all the frontline services, AquaGib, Government officials, the media and our major supermarkets for going the extra mile in helping the community cope with this very worrying situation.

Serious questions remain over the cause of the fire and how this happened with potentially devastating consequences only brought back by the sheer effort and risks taken by our frontline workers. The large-scale storage of flammable materials and their management should also be carefully reviewed including security for all access to our tunnel systems. We hope that all recommendations put forward by the frontline emergency services, whose lives are most risk from industrial accidents, will be taken on-board.

Clearly a spike in plastic bottle use has also resulted and we urge the public to make use of the yellow recycling bins to dispose of unwanted plastic bottles and containers.

The issue of waste and litter leads us to the launch of this years Clean up the World. The date is the 17^th September in support of the worldwide weekend of community action.  This will be Gibraltar’s 19^th nationwide clean up organised by the ESG and is already gathering momentum. Please send in your interest to participate to:-  esg@gibtelecom.net. You can register a team or sign up as an individual and more details will be sent to you.

In our next broadcast we will be covering Climate Change and regular ESG features coming up in local media, Air pollution and the need for wider monitoring of industrial zones and how idling our engines will soon be an illegal offence in Gibraltar due to a new law announced in parliament recently.

Thanks for listening – please visit esg-gib.net for more information on issues covered by the ESG.

The ESG is concerned to see the fire break out in a tunnel system off Europa Advance Road.

With area evacuated and emergency response teams standing by, the group calls for a statement by Government to assure the public of the source of the smoke and likely components of the burning material. It will also be important to verify the cause of this incident once an investigation has taken place.

 ESG Press Release

New Lease for Dockyard for Balaena Propco Limited

26^th May 2022 

The ESG welcomes the statement released yesterday by the Chief Minister on the renewal of the lease for the Dockyard.

This renewal has been long awaited and the group notes the various references made in the statement regarding environmental improvements and measures to safeguard surrounding neighbourhoods from dockyard activities going forward. It also welcomes the ‘cold ironing’ facility that will allow vessels to ‘plug in’ and reduce idling at berth, or in dry-dock.

The ESG has long called for environmental management of the Dockyard emissions to equal those of modern day industry pollution controls.

The group considers that publication of the lease terms and operating permit would reassure the public of the pollution controls and monitoring measures in place. It should provide details of the enforcement tools available should the new Dockyard operator fail to meet the terms of the new agreement.

The long-suffering south district residents deserve no less.

UPDATE:- Government replied Lease that details were being provided on the Parliament Site. You can access link here:-

https://www.parliament.gi/uploads/contents/papers_laid/2022/dockyard_new_lease.pdf

With news in the media of a planning application for Witham’s Air Monitoring Station to be relocated at Devil’s Tower Road and not in the NW zone of Gibraltar as pledged, the ESG has to express its disappointment with this decision.

It is vital to have good quality air monitoring data from the Port and North Mole area given the many pollution sources from shipping, power station and skid generators and we are making representations to the Minister and his department over the pressing need for this to happen and for information to be publicly available.

Transport issues in Gibraltar have always been of interest and concern to the ESG and we have been lobbying for improvements in this sector of our lives for some time now. The Committee recently met with the Minister for Transport to discuss these matters in the context of the Climate Strategy published some 3 months ago as well as lay before him our most pressing transport issues.

We wanted to find out if the Climate Strategy produced by the Dept of Environment is being rolled out in practice. If the strategy is to succeed its targets must systematically replace priorities within departments and do so within stated timelines.

Transport is a particularly tricky area as it has a direct impact on all our lives and covers activity by all sections of our community, including the foreign factor. It is a major challenge, not just to get on your bike or walk, but, as the strategy points out, to shift our car and motorbike reliance community to cleaner vehicles and alternate and healthier mobility choices, with the steering and implementation of several time lined measures.

This will require, in our view, a good measure of cross party support as well as forensic execution. Major investment will be required to support adapting the existing car, bus and taxi fleets to less polluting options. Infrastructure and services needed to support such changes as set out in the strategy should start now if the timings are to be met.

At the meeting we also focused on more immediate targets that we feel could make a real difference to our quality of life. Those are

• no idling to be strictly enforced around schools, bus stops and at tourist sites – idling produces toxic emissions which can cause multiple health issues esp. in the young and elderly
• Noise pollution from vehicles to be policed
• Second hand buses to be scrapped and upgraded to match euro stds at the very least and then onto cleaner technology fuels
• Ensure park and ride schemes for visitors are well in place ahead of full resumption of tourist numbers coming to Gibraltar
• Need to stamp out heavily polluting vehicles whatever registration
• Greater enforcement of illegal driving practices 
• Regulation on Scooters

The Minister and his team advised there would be a number of new measures published soon and that work is underway to begin to address the strategy targets.

The ESG will continue to monitor these developments and raise concerns as part of our own objectives towards a healthier and greener Gibraltar.

For more info please visit esg-gib.net.

In todays newsletter we shall take a look at our port, transport and the expected availability of real-time emission data for the new Power Station.

 PORT – It was positive to see the new Captain of the Port finally confirmed. The ESG wishes the Captain well in his new position and hopes that his office will strive to push for the highest possible environmental standards to be applied at the port and by all users and visitors alike. The port is Gibraltar’s main industrial activity, and carries several environmental impacts. From direct threats to marine life and ecosystems to air and noise pollution from the offshore 24hour bunkering activity, which impacts our local community. Government and port have said the use of LNG will make shipping more sustainable. Indeed Europe is embracing LNG also towards the same objective. In reality LNG reduces GHG emissions by only 25% and is a fossil fuel – not a long-term solution.  The IMO (International Maritime Organisation) has embarked on a climate action plan to eliminate pollution from shipping and work towards reducing GHG emissions over the short, medium to long-term. Gibraltar as member of the IMO should support this plan, which aims to promote investment in cleaner fuels and efficiency, in mitigation and new technologies. It is crucial that as the 3^rd largest bunkering port in the Med and 7^th largest in the World in terms of bunker volume– according to the Capt. Of the Port’s interview with GBC – Gibraltar must act responsibly and embrace and promote the IMO Climate Change measures.

In our next newsletter we shall explore how a local company, servicing private yachts, has began establishing provision of more sustainable fuels.

TRANSPORT – Transport continues to be an important issue for our community. There isn’t a day that goes by that we aren’t affected negatively by it. The ESG promotes and recommends ideas to help resolve some of these problems and you can find these on our website at esg-gib.net. Of course not everyone’s idea of an ideal transport situation is the same. But we can agree that quiet and calm roads would be a welcome environment for us all. The recent news on new zoning has unleashed public discussion. We support moves to discourage unnecessary car use and expansion of a clean public transport, more walking, cycling etc. The pandemic has served to delay moves to clean up our buses as other cities have started doing but we sincerely hope this plan is still on the table. Noise pollution, from some road users must be addressed, and the occasional heavily polluting vehicle taken off the road, whatever its registration! We are confused about Governments objectives in limiting the ever-growing number of vehicles in Gibraltar and hope to see further dedicated efforts towards electric and hybrid cars. We are also concerned to see how the new airport tunnel will finally settle in terms of pedestrians crossing the runway and the overall tidying up of public serving vehicles in that area. We are seeking a meeting with the Minister to follow up on these matters.

POWER STATION – the ESG has campaigned for real-time emission data for the new Power Station at Waterport to be publicly available from the very start of this project. We sincerely hope that 2022 will be the year that we see this data published – a long-term commitment by Government – as well as see the back of the many diesel skid generators that have been used to support the transition to the New Power Station. We shall continue to monitor this as well as the promised onshore power connection programme.

Covid permitting we hope to be able to organise public debates on the important issue of Climate Change and all it encompasses and will provide more info on this soon. Meanwhile please visit our website for more information and press releases on the environment.

That’s at: www.esg-gib.net.

Thanks for listening! January 2

– 2022 has arrived and environmental issues continue to be as important as ever. With this, our first Radio Broadcast of the year, we would like to discuss Climate Change and the Strategy released by Government and issues related to that.  Why is this so important you may ask? Well, many, if not all climate change impacts arise from polluting activity – thus action on climate will also bring us benefits of a cleaner and healthier environment.

– You can find the strategy published on the Government website by searching for the Gibraltar Climate Strategy. Additionally, you can find other reports such as the 2018 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, which explains in detail where the key emission producers lie.

– One of our big gripes is that the present Strategy, important as it is, looks at only 8% of our total GHG Emission liability, that is the City Emissions. That to us is unacceptable. Government has said it is looking at longer-term measures to tackle divestment from our fossil fuel economic reliance – but no plans exist so far. Opposition parties, it has to be said, have ignored completely this element of the Climate Strategy – seemingly everyone is walking on eggshells when it comes to our Oil Businesses on the Rock.

– But we will continue to press for action on this as well as on the need to deliver on other city emission commitments to improve on our transport, energy, waste, development and other polluting activities.

Please see our website : www.esg-gib.net  for more information on this.

– Development is also a major environmental challenge in Gibraltar – why? Because of the significant construction which continues in Gibraltar. With the current Eastside project potentially offering a better deal for the environment that those previously proposed, in terms of scale of buildings, it cannot escape anyone’s attention that this area will change tremendously with the massive marina possibly being the largest impact. However, details are still to be presented in full on this project. You then have the Hilton plans to replace the Caleta Hotel, which has rightly caused outrage in the community and among our membership. Hassan’s Centenary Terraces can also be seen from many kms away – a true blot on the profile of our beautiful Rock. We will continue to voice our concerns and objections going forward and hope that the eastside can be developed sensitively, respecting the charm and natural beauty of the landscape, the Caleta Village and beaches in this part of Gibraltar.

– You can see more applications online on the Town Planning Website –be sure to get your comments and views on projects you are concerned about within the deadlines.The next DPC mtg sits on the 20^th January to discuss the next round of applications, you can follow proceedings online as from 9.30am and access the link from the Town Planning website. Be sure to tune in with a few controversial projects being considered!

– Thanks for listening. We look forward to sharing our views on different aspects of the Strategy and our Wishlist going forward in the coming newsletters and hopefully create more debate on these crucial issues of our times.