Acorn International selected by EEPGL to do environment survey for 5th offshore project -scoping meeting hears

Following concerns over the repeated use of one consultant for the environmental surveys for ExxonMobil’s operations here, a different company was selected for the oil major’s fifth planned offshore project but the controversy is likely to rumble on.

Acorn International, which like ExxonMobil is headquartered in Houston, Texas in the US is the company that will take over from Environmental Resources Management (ERM). At a public scoping meeting at the Umana Yana yesterday for the Uaru project, Acorn stated that it had been selected by project developer, ExxonMobil’s subsidiary, EEPGL and had gotten a no-objection from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This procedure is not in compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency Act as has been pointed out by environmentalists.

“EIAs (Environmental Impact Assessments) are prepared by an independent consultant, for this project that is a foreign (company) that has been selected by the project developer (EEPGL) and which has been approved by (the) EPA,” Grace Russell, Acorn International Environmental consultant yesterday said during her address at the scoping meeting.

During the question and answer segment, attorney Elizabeth Deane-Hughes questioned how the company was selected and the explanation was reiterated.

Geologist and environmental activist Simone Mangal-Joly In an open letter of April 16 to the Executive Director of the EPA, Kemraj Parsram argued that the EPA has failed to select the consultant according to the procedures specified in the EP Act.

“Whether one does it on a case-by-case basis or from a pool, or whether it is a local or foreign individual or company, Section 3(a) of the Act is clear that the Agency cannot select the consultants by itself; the selection must be done ‘with the assistance of internationally recognized environmental groups.’ This is specifically to avoid bias and underhandedness,” the letter said.

At the time she was making the point that the consultants, ERM, was picked to conduct the EIAs of the four other well developments when there was no evidence that international environment groups were involved in its selection.

Acorn International on its website said it delivers the expertise, solutions and assurance that global businesses need to thrive in high-risk environments amidst community opposition, environmental liabilities and shareholder activism.

“We aim to promote more sustainable relationships between business, affected stakeholders and the affected environment, to help all three thrive,” it stated.

The company has been involved in mega developments and energy related products across the world and has worked with many international companies.

The company operates not through a traditional consulting services model, but by providing structured tools and coordination to qualified host-country teams, maintaining a link with international clients and building capacity in the host-country team.

Last year the company teamed up with local environmental consulting group, Environmental Management Consultants Inc. (EMC), Managed by Shyam Nokta.

At the time of the announcement, the companies said recognizing the significance of continued hydrocarbon discoveries and the onset of significant development opportunities in Guyana, this strategic partnership will allow Acorn International to complement and support the multi-faceted EMC team by bringing extensive oil and gas experience and expertise, particularly in environmental and social risk management.

“We are pleased to be working with Acorn International,” Nokta said.

According to President of Acorn International, Dean Slocum, “We are excited and honored to be working in partnership with EMC to deliver world-class social and environmental performance services to industry, investors, and the government in Guyana. While we have worked extensively on resource development programs in over 70 countries, we know that managing the critical social and environmental challenges of new extractive activities requires local knowledge and local solutions. EMC has an exceptionally strong understanding of how these issues can impact Guyana and a sound ability to reliably and professionally deliver local interpretation and results. Consistent with our commitment to building local content capacity, we look forward to continuing to work with Shyam and his team to strengthen an already-robust and increasingly respected business to support Guyana’s sustainable development”.

Last week at a public scoping meeting for the planned gas to energy project, an ExxonMobil official had signalled that

ERM would not be doing its next Environmental Impact Assessment.