Former Head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Dr. Vincent Adams today lambasted the ExxonMobil company for leading “a public relations campaign of misinformation and untruths” over its flaring from the Liza Destiny oil vessel.

During a press conference hosted by the Alliance For Change, Dr. Adams who is an Executive Member of the party said there should be no flaring taking place. Adams said Exxon appears to be getting a free pass from even the Government.

“All of us should be concerned that Exxon is now engaging in a PR campaign of confusion and misinformation and distraction. We noticed their illegal flaring to produce at the maximum 120,000 barrels of oil per day. Their only interest is to keep that production up. Nobody has a problem with keeping production up, but the law says that you must not flare. The other concern is that they are getting even the government now to believe their story and their nonsense and their misinformation and mistruths”, Dr. Adams said.

Three weeks ago, the Exxon company announced that it was flaring at a higher level because of a damaged compressor on the Liza Destiny. In the oil industry, flaring refers to the burning and release of gas during oil production.

While the Exxon company has only reduced oil production by 10,000 barrels per day, it has increased the flaring level.

The former EPA boss who worked for decades in the US energy sector said Guyana needs to be at one and stand up against the flaring that is taking place by Exxon. He said the impact of the release of the gas into the environment could result in long-term pollution that will be around for decades.

He said “Exxon’s interest is in making money and our interest should be in making sure we are working in the best interest of this country. Exxon will within the next 25 to 30 years and they will be leaving whatever they want to leave for us. We will be here forever, so now is the time for all politicians on both sides of the aisle to unite and hold a united front on oil and gas just like we do on the borders, because we just cant afford it (the pollution)”.

Adams, who was fired by the PPP Civic Government just after the elections, is adamant that the Exxon license does not allow it to conduct flaring exercises and he has stated that the ongoing situation is troubling and needs to be addressed soon.

The Government has said it is monitoring the situation based on daily reports from the company.

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