Time spent on environmental incidents revealed by Pati
Environmental officers have spent an estimated 600 hours since 2020 dealing with emissions from Belco, according to records released by the Government.
The estimate was shared in response to a public access to information request seeking details of the environmental incidents in Bermuda which were most costly in terms of remediation.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources made the Pati disclosure on Tuesday, in the form of a detailed table listing six separate “incidents”.
The most time-consuming three, based on estimated personnel hours committed by DENR officers, all involved Belco.
Belco president Wayne Caines said in response: “The approximately 600 hours referenced in the Pati disclosure is an estimation.
“These estimated hours are spread across five years and reflect the comprehensive oversight required for Bermuda’s largest industrial facility.”
The three incidents were: ongoing downdrafting of exhaust fumes from Belco’s east and north power station stacks, resulting in an estimated 250 personnel hours for DENR since October 2020; ongoing large-particle soot fallout from north power station engines (200 hours since October 2021); and oil/diesel fumes from tanks on St John’s Road in Pembroke (150 hours between November 2021 to June 2024).
None of the incidents resulted in prosecutions or fines because tests did not show that any standards were breached.
The environmental incident which required the most manpower hours from environmental officers was the downdrafting of exhaust fumes from Belco’s north and east power station stacks.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources detailed how it began recording the issue in October 2020 and had since spent 250 hours dealing with it.
The department required Belco to install and operate a portable air quality monitoring station on Ocean Lane in Pembroke.
The operation of the station and the data it produced was verified by Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, under contract to DENR.
The monitoring revealed that when the wind from the south-southwest reached a speed of more than 15 knots, exhaust fumes from the stacks in Pembroke “pass through a notch” between Mount Hill and Langton Hill causing “impact via down-drafting” to about ten properties on Ocean Lane and Whitney Avenue.
The DENR’s Pati disclosure noted that the concentrations of chemical components in the down-drafted exhaust were compliant with both Bermuda and UK standards, but the sulphur dioxide levels exceeded Britain’s air quality target level.
New clean air regulations, expected to be tabled in Parliament next month, will align Bermuda with the UK target level.
Belco president Wayne Caines noted in a statement that the company demonstrated it could comply with the proposed new limit by switching fuel for some engines from heavy fuel oil to sulphur road diesel fuel.
The DENR disclosure stated the same.
The Ocean Lane station is no longer there, but plans are in place for a smaller sensor on Whitney Avenue, according to the Pati disclosure.
The disclosure stated that the “total contract value for Bios to provide ambient air quality monitoring and maintenance of stations/sensors over Bermuda is $230,000” a year.
Also listed in the DENR’s table were three other environmental incidents, unrelated to Belco, which required an estimated total of 210 hours of DENR staff time. They were two ocean oil spills and the cutting down of protected trees at Mid Ocean Club.
The DENR did not provide a dollar cost for remediation work because it does not calculate this figure for its records.
The non-Belco incidents were the unlawful cutting of mangrove trees by Mid Ocean Club on its property at Trott’s Pond, Hamilton Parish in April 2023 (100 hours); an oil spill in February 2024 caused by repairs to Crisson Construction Ltd’s barge near South Basin, Dockyard (80 hours); and an oil spill from the wrecked vessel MV Cortina in September 2022, from Hurricane Fiona, at Port Island, Paradise Lakes (30 hours).
Mid Ocean Club was prosecuted by the DENR after an inspection of the site. It initially pleaded not guilty but changed to a guilty plea and was fined $5,000 last December.
The DENR wrote that it was “discussing with Mid Ocean a variety of landscaping options that will allow their golf course to be restored to the status it was in many decades ago, while also being mindful and supportive of terrestrial conservation …” and that four groundsmen/arborists would be hired by the club.
Regarding the Dockyard oil spill, the disclosure stated: “DENR and coastguard visited Dockyard to identify the source of the spill and to inform Crisson to cease operations and to clean up waste oils on their barge. DENR returned the next day to realise that requirements had not been fully followed.”
It added: “Upon realising that some of the oil source had not been addressed by the next day, DENR started to collect witness statements … DENR liaised with the Department of Public Prosecutions to prosecute Crisson Construction Ltd under … the Water Resources Act 1975.”
Nearby Dolphin Quest was informed of the spill and had to deploy a boom near its entrance gate to prevent oil entering the dolphin enclosure, according to the disclosure.
Crisson initially pleaded not guilty to polluting seawater but changed to a guilty plea on July 3, 2024 and was fined $5,000.
The final incident listed, involving the oil spill from MV Cortina, did not result in a prosecution or fine.
The DENR said it deployed 200ft of absorbent boom to address the spill and later co-ordinated replacement of the same type of boom from the owner of the wrecked boat, Darren DeSilva, who was not named in the Pati disclosure.
The DENR disclosure came the same day Belco held a town hall meeting about its emissions and how it was working to reduce them.
Company officials said they understood the frustrations of local residents and reminded them that Belco offers compensation and remediation, including cleaning properties, vehicles and water tanks.
Mr Caines said in his statement to the Gazette that the purpose of the DENR was to “protect Bermuda's environment and responsibly manage its natural resources”.
He said the DENR held Belco accountable by monitoring its operations, investigating complaints and providing technical oversight to ensure the energy supplier met regulatory standards under the Clean Air Act 1991 and Water Resources Act 1975.
Mr Caines added: “We work closely with DENR through monthly reports to the Environmental Authority — the statutory board established under these Acts — as well as annual compliance reviews and immediate notifications when required under our operating licence conditions.”
The former politician insisted the estimated 600 hours were “not solely spent monitoring pollution — it encompasses ensuring Belco remains compliant across all aspects of our operations, including routine monitoring, water quality testing, reviewing reports, conducting site inspections, complaint investigations and consultation on operational improvements.”
Mid Ocean Club was asked for comment, but did not respond. Mr DeSilva and Crisson Construction had no comment.
The Pati request was submitted by the Gazette to the DENR as part of a global right-to-know “stress test” conducted by the Centre for Law and Democracy, a non-profit human rights organisation in Canada.
The public authority did not provide an initial decision in the legislated time frame due, it said, to “timing and administration” but has now responded with full disclosure.
• To view the full Pati disclosure relating to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the statement from Belco, see Related Media
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