PM Rowley On Oil Spill

Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley said he would not be surprised to learn of more leakage from the barge currently overturned near Cove in Tobago. A release from the Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly Farley Augustine says preliminary reconnaissance indicates that there is currently no imminent threat to the coastline. An Emergency Meeting was held on Wednesday to discuss confirmed reports of a large deposit of hydrocarbons drifting away from the Gulfstream vessel near Cove. The Chief Secretary said it's believed that the existing weather and sea conditions, inclusive of high tides and high wave swells, have disturbed the vessel, resulting in the hydrocarbon deposits. During Thursday’s Post Cabinet Media Briefing, Dr. Rowley said there are more barrels with gallons of oil on the vessel. On February 7th, the vessel was found overturned and leaking an oil-like substance some 200 metres off the coast of the Cove. It was later identified as bunker fuel. Dr. Rowley said much of what could have been done has been done.