OfReg reveals fuel tank leak at Rubis
(CNS): The utilities regulator issued a press release Tuesday, in which it revealed for the first time that a fuel spill had occurred in November last year at one of the tanks at the Jackson Point Terminal, which holds fuel for the retailer Rubis. OfReg said that it was investigating this leak at the South Sound depot but gave no details about the incident, which has been kept from the public for more than three months.
The regulator did not indicate the size of the leak, where it occurred, whether or not it had impacted the marine environment or what may have happened to cause the leak. CNS has submitted a number of questions to the regulator but no one has responded to our inquiry. We have also contacted the Department of Environment to see if they were informed of the leak if it had, in fact, caused any ocean pollution.
In the release OfReg stated that after discovering the leak, the tank was immediately emptied and the fuel transferred to other tanks. The incident was reported to OfReg as part of the requirement under the Dangerous Substances Law but was not reported to the public, and it is not clear if any residents in the area were informed either.
Since then, the tank has remained under the direct supervision and control of OfReg to facilitate an “ongoing comprehensive investigation”.
Rubis was recently allowed to conduct a technical inspection on the tank to plan the maintenance and repair schedule once the investigation is over to enable the tank to be put back in service.
The regulator said these investigations typically take between six and nine months to complete, with final analysis provided at the conclusion of the investigation to ensure adherence to safety regulations and formalized accident prevention plans.
Chief Fuel Inspector Duke Munroe, who is overseeing the investigations said, “Rubis’s fuel tanks are critical infrastructure for the sustainability and reliability of fuel storage in the islands. OfReg is committed to conducting thorough investigations of incidents such as these and taking measures, where necessary, that will safeguard the well-being of those in the community as well as our economy.”
OfReg said that another statement will be release once the investigation is completed.
Correction: An earlier version of this article erroneously mentioned SOL, However, this leak has nothing to do with that fuel company.
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Category: Local News
Typical incompetence in doing the job and taking responsibility for the screw ups. lt will never change.
You have only got to go on the OfReg website and look at the board of directors – a regular shower of incompetents. Then, when you try and click on more information on the individuals, you are notified that the information is ‘comming soon’- illiterates!
The real issue here is that not only is Ofreg incompetent across the board but they have covered up and didnt disclose a leak like this until there was sufficient other noise in the media that it would get less attention. They cannot be trusted!
We need to move these bunker fuel depot to somewhere else. Probably wherever they put the new waste management facility in Industrial Park or behind Camana Bay. We can’t put it in the Swamp. There is no roads, electricity, or water. It would cost too much.
Typical private sector incompetence. CIG to the rescue again.
Sure wish CIG would save us with THE DUMP. Been waiting for 20 years.
Lol
What kind of fool AM i
I don’t know. Please tell us.
Tell us.
Enquiring minds want to know😂
This is what happens when you have people running the show, who don’t know anything about the industry they are involved in.
Same people trying to pass the buck and cover things up.
I remember when things were run by locals and we had no major issues.
4.15pm “When things were run by locals we had no major issues” – surely you can’t be talking about the Cayman Islands.
Yes, because we are a brilliant people. Now let me get back to my turtle stew.
“were run by locals and we had no major issues” – because we have massive knowledge of the industry, unlike these pesky foreigners?
6:32, Please tell us more. Know that our mothers have massive knowledge of the rum cake industry but please give me 5 other examples of massive knowledge?
Ha! I’d love to hear some examples of that
It’s ran by locals now!
Oh yeah, we locals took over the rum cake industry from the Jamaicans.
Hmmmnnnn….
Wrong again
The Jamaicans now own the rum cake business
Not the Hamatys either….
My Jamaican mama would have been so happy to know that fact…
So this is best management practices at works as per OfReg. Where’s the checking & testing or is that too dirty a job for your nice white starched shirts and fancy new clean white trucks? By the looks of the fuel disasters over recent years it seems that Sol & Rubis are left to self regulate, more like run a muck! What do we pay you idiot OfReg fools for, to sit on your swivel chairs and get consultants to do your whole job for you?
This sector of industry in Cayman needs an emergency overhaul, OfReg needs to go. Water Authority needs to staff up and take back their old duties in checking fuel installations. Enforcement needs to happen period! Fines need increasing 10-fold since they are the usual slap on the wrist and might as well be pocket change to the fuel companies.
Every time we see OfReg in the news it spells failure, enough is enough!
Geez, do we ever need a Green Party on this island. The environment is literally going to hell in so many areas. We are destroying these islands rapidly in so many ways.
Those tanks should not be in a Residential area.
More like that residential area shouldn’t be by the tanks!
Electrical lines in the trees_ or Trees in the electrical lines?
chicken or the egg first?
8.14pm Admittedly the tanks have been there over 60 years so the egg was first, but it was the chicken in the form of the Planning Board that gave planning permission for every house built in the area surrounding the tanks, during this period.
Soon come, surely you heard about the proposed fuel terminal in East End?
you realize the tanks were there before the houses right?
Since then, the tank has remained under the direct supervision and control of OfReg to facilitate an “ongoing comprehensive investigation” You have got to be kidding.
Yes and they do it all remotely from their cushy offices. Amazing isn’t it?
What about the fire system in the brac that’s been DOWN for years.
Linford you did something?
😂😂😂😂😂😂
12.37 Yes he had a leak right next to the problem tank whilst conducting his comprehensive investigation.
Probably punched a hole in the tank!
LOL!
Looks like they are building a new tank there now ?
So Mr. Munroe how many tank integrity tests were done for Sol and Rubis over the last 10 years? Whose rules are we following here to ensure the safety of these bulk storage facilities, the American Petroleum Institute, API or just when you feel like it?
You need to go along with the rest of your entity, you failed multiple times, cases in point:
1. Shedden Road Rubis leak, now Cricket Square 6 – circa 2016
2. Jackson Point Sol Terminal fire – circa 2017
3. Now this
Pardon the pun but with you at the helm of our petroleum regulator we are SOL!
11.52am Maybe we should rename our our fuel suppliers SOS and HUBRIS.
Best import money can buy folks, gotta love it, let’s call in a consultant to address all these negative comments from the press release the other consultants wrote 😂
Duke will sort all of this out. It doesn’t strike me as a huge deal to complain about.
Listen. If the CIG would pay attention this would not have happened.
What do you expect.
The senior staff drive around in CIG provided vehicles doing personal stuff, going to and from work, going to bars, driving women/girlfriends around, using their phones while driving, speed all over the place and run other road users off the road.
If they are doing simple little things like this then what do you expect to happen
They have NO CLUE how to do their job and to top it off why do you think nothing happens with the monopoly of the fuel sector here. Pay offs are huge, prices go up, but never down.
This department is running rogue with no controls……..
Time for a huge shake up in there……
11.25am The bottom has dropped out of the oil market courtesy of Russia and Saudi Arabia – do you think we might see a 10c per gallon reduction at the pumps?.But we don’t have to worry, Duke is right on top of this even though he gets his gas for free.
No way, a drop in prices. Time to make some windfall profits. Times have never been better to be in the fuel business in Cayman.
10.13am You missed the sarcasm, oil prices have dropped more than 30%, I don’ t think they will get away with hurricanefall profits.
Awesome.