Pollution in Trinidad and Tobago
POLLUTION
SHIVALLI RAGBIR
UPPER SIX B
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
OIL SPILL IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
The Petrotrin oil spill was a series of oil spills that transpired on the island of Trinidad and Tobago. There were a total of eleven oil spills that took place in December 2013. The first spill began when the 16-inch sea line No 10, operated by the Trinidad's national oil company, Petrotrin, ruptured at the bottom of the Gulf of Paria near the company's Pointe-a-Pierre refinery. It was originally reported as a single oil spill near the southwestern town of La Brea but by the end of the month, ten more oil spills were confirmed. It is the largest oil spill in the history of Trinidad and Tobago.
The sea off the coast of Point-a-Pierre, where the oil occurred, includes a mangrove forest, home to a wide variety of species found nowhere else. There has been a decrease crab and snail as well as mosquitoes that have been in abundance. There are somewhere between 400 to 500 different species of marine fish as well as 21 different types of freshwater fish. There are also many mammals, reptiles and amphibians that inhabit the bodies of water that surround Trinidad that have been affected.
The Petrotrin oil spill has had an adverse effect on this diverse ecosystem. The spill has put the country’s marine and freshwater animals that inhabit the bodies of water near the Pointe-a-Pierre base, such as Queen’s beach, Coffee beach and the Caribbean Ocean, in harm’s way. Several fishermen have reported seeing many oil-soaked birds as seen in the picture below, as well as many dead fish near beaches close to the oil spill.
(GULL BIRD COVERED IN OIL)
The quality of air in Trinidad has suffered as a result. Directly following the oil spill, residents of nearby areas reported smelling a very potent odor. It was eventually discovered that the residents smelled toxic fumes that were being produced from the oil spill.
There is an ample fishing community in
SHIVALLI RAGBIR
UPPER SIX B
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
OIL SPILL IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
The Petrotrin oil spill was a series of oil spills that transpired on the island of Trinidad and Tobago. There were a total of eleven oil spills that took place in December 2013. The first spill began when the 16-inch sea line No 10, operated by the Trinidad's national oil company, Petrotrin, ruptured at the bottom of the Gulf of Paria near the company's Pointe-a-Pierre refinery. It was originally reported as a single oil spill near the southwestern town of La Brea but by the end of the month, ten more oil spills were confirmed. It is the largest oil spill in the history of Trinidad and Tobago.
The sea off the coast of Point-a-Pierre, where the oil occurred, includes a mangrove forest, home to a wide variety of species found nowhere else. There has been a decrease crab and snail as well as mosquitoes that have been in abundance. There are somewhere between 400 to 500 different species of marine fish as well as 21 different types of freshwater fish. There are also many mammals, reptiles and amphibians that inhabit the bodies of water that surround Trinidad that have been affected.
The Petrotrin oil spill has had an adverse effect on this diverse ecosystem. The spill has put the country’s marine and freshwater animals that inhabit the bodies of water near the Pointe-a-Pierre base, such as Queen’s beach, Coffee beach and the Caribbean Ocean, in harm’s way. Several fishermen have reported seeing many oil-soaked birds as seen in the picture below, as well as many dead fish near beaches close to the oil spill.
(GULL BIRD COVERED IN OIL)
The quality of air in Trinidad has suffered as a result. Directly following the oil spill, residents of nearby areas reported smelling a very potent odor. It was eventually discovered that the residents smelled toxic fumes that were being produced from the oil spill.
There is an ample fishing community in