The lack of information regarding the recent gas spill at the Rubis facility in St George’s is “very troubling”, according to the Shadow Minister of the Environment.

In a release issued yesterday afternoon, PLP MP Diallo Rabain described last week’s leak as a “great concern”.

“With an ecological system as fragile as ours and our natural beauty being a huge selling point for our tourism product, the lack of information from both Rubis and the Government is very troubling,” he said.

“It seems sugar-coated reports have taken precedence over the release of potential outcomes that would allow for real solutions to be considered.”

Daily updates, Mr Rabain said, should be provided by Rubis to both the Government and the public.

“Eighty-five thousand litres is a considerable amount of gasoline and, with two caves already identified in this area, the potential fallout increases,” the Shadow Minister said.

He called for the release of “critical details”, including the cause of the leak, as well as the timeframe between the discovery of the leak and its reporting.

The Government’s role must also be “identified”, Mr Rabain said.

“It seems as if Rubis is instructing the Government on how to respond, whereas the Government should be taking the lead in advising Rubis as to the appropriate corrective measures.”

On Sunday, a release issued by Rubis said that an initial assessment had determined that approximately 19,200 gallons (72,678 litres) of gas had been leaked.

Last week, a well-placed source said the size of the spill was more than 22,000 gallons (83,279 litres). The source, who spoke with The Royal Gazette on Thursday afternoon on the condition of anonymity, also said several hours passed from the time when the leak was first detected by the company until the Government was notified.

The leak, Rubis said, was caused by the failure of a gasket connecting a valve to a fuel pipeline at the Ferry Road facility on Monday, March 27.

“The faulty gasket was removed and replaced as soon as the leak was discovered and all other tanks, pipes, valves and equipment have subsequently been checked for continued safe operation and use,” the company said in a release issued yesterday.

Rubis said that “good progress” was being made in gas recovery efforts. The spill, the company said, was contained within the Rubis property.

“Gasoline was found in just one monitoring well which is now being used to recover the fuel as quickly as possible.”

Three additional monitoring wells have been installed for monitoring soil, groundwater and air quality around the facility, the company said.

“Air monitoring devices used to test for odours and flammable vapours confirmed there is no current health risk for workers at the terminal or for neighbours nearby.”

Additional extraction wells will be installed in the “coming days” to help with fuel recovery.

“The coastline, seawater, and neighbouring properties adjacent to our St George’s depot have not been impacted and there has been no presence of hydrocarbons detected in the soil, air or the sea in these areas adjacent to our depot,” Rubis said.

Jonathan Starling, executive director at Greenrock, said the organisation remained concerned about the spill and whether more could have been done in the immediate aftermath.

“While we welcome the news that the spill currently remains contained within the Rubis property, although deep underground, we are aware that there are caves in the area, including likely unknown caves, as well as upwellings of groundwater in the near-shore area,” he said.

“As such we remain concerned about the risk of this spill rapidly migrating outside of the current area, including offshore.”

Mr Starling said he would like to see an investigation conducted to examine the response following detection of the leak, including the communication strategy.

“Transparency and proactive communication should always be the way to go with incidents like this.”