In order to secure the permission of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop its offshore operations, ExxonMobil is required by law to submit an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). This document provides an analysis of how the proposed project will impact eco-systems, marine life, and the nearby communities while stating what would be done mitigate these risks in environmentally friendly ways.
In order to do this analysis, independent firms that are hired for this job must conduct a series of studies in order to properly assess the foregoing risks. In the case of Guyana, these studies are now serving a dual purpose, in that, they provide a remarkable wealth of new data for local environmentalists to review.
The latest studies that were conducted for the Payara project is a testimony of this. Recently, ExxonMobil noted that nine marine bird studies were conducted from 2017 to 2019. As a result of those studies, seven bird species that were not previously documented in Guyana including the Bridled Tern, Manx Shearwater, Longtailed Jaegar, Great Black-backed Gull, Red-billed Tropicbird, Bulwer’s Petrel and Band-rumped Storm-Petrel were discovered. Significantly, ExxonMobil noted that this would be the first offshore bird survey off Guyanese waters.
ExxonMobil also noted that the first fisheries study was conducted near shore as well as offshore. It was the first to be done in over 50 years, the company said, while outlining that the exotic lionfish appears to have become the most established in Guyana’s waters.
With respect to its turtle telemetry studies, the Guyana Standard understands that this was conducted in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as the Protected Areas Commission. The exercise was one that uncovered a wealth of new data about the sea behaviours of Guyana’s nesting green and leatherback turtles. This news agency understands that this information is now being used to fill regional scientific gaps on turtle behaviour.
