Johil Commercial seeking authorisation for stone quarry

Johil Commercial and Transport Agency has applied for an environmental authorisation to operate a stone quarry at Arisaru, Essequibo River in Region Ten.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a notice in yesterday’s Sunday Chronicle said that it has screened the application and determined that the proposed project will not significantly affect the environment and is exempt from the requirement for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). However in the interest of sound environmental management, an Environmental Management Plan must be conducted for the project.

According to the EPA, the proposed location for the quarry is within the Potaro mining district. The project will disrupt 1,200 acres of land but will only use seven percent of the allotted area for clearance and extraction of aggregate, establishment of mining pits, buildings and internal road for the operation.

It was stated that there are no nearby communities within the immediate vicinity of the site with the nearest being Linden and Mabura Hill which are located 80km and 30km away, respectively.

The EPA said that while the operation may result in impacts to water and air quality, biodiversity and soil, the minimisation of vegetation clearance, construction of a sedimentation pond for storm run-off and implementation of other best management practices for erosion control will mitigate those impacts.

Persons who believe that they may be affected by the project have been invited to lodge an appeal against the Agency’s decision within the next 30 days.

A series of applications have been made for the starting up of quarries since the PPP/C entered office last August.