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A pristine bay in Exuma contaminated in Diesel Spill, Bahamas Gov’t opens investigation
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TheBahamas, July 25, 2022 – Bahamian companies are making significant progress in their effort to clean up a 35,000 gallon fuel spill in some of the most pristine waters in the world: Exuma.
By Thursday afternoon 11,000 gallons had already been removed and the rest is expected to be siphoned out by Friday. The spill was noticed about 4am Wednesday morning during a fuel transfer which was on its way to Bahamas Power and Light (BPL).
Chester Cooper, in acting Prime Minister capacity at the time of the messy spill in his constituency. Cooper flew into Exuma with a team of ministers and media to assess the damage. Bahamian-owned, Sun Oil was the source of the diesel leak.
“It was on its way to BPL but ended up here in the cove. We are happy that it appears to be contained,” said Cooper, obviously concerned but expressing relief for the manageable scope of the spill.
In a statement shared with Bahamian media houses Sun Oil said ‘at 4am Wednesday morning crew members onboard the MT Arabian, a vessel contracted on behalf of Sun Oil Limited to deliver diesel fuel, discovered a leak during the discharging process. The crew deployed absorbent pads and containment buoys near the shoreline at sunrise.’
Cleanup is being led by the crew of the vessel with mechanical assistance from BPL whose trucks are holding the fuel.
Utilities Minister Alfred Sears gave this report last week on the cleanup efforts.
“Additional booms are on the way and additional pumps have been secured by BPL to accelerate the process of
The fuel is contained to one area, thanks to the booms, said to be the bay of the Exuma Sailing Club.
In photos, while it does appear to be contained, the turquoise of the fuel free water is a jarring contrast with the now brown-black of the contaminated water and residents say the odor is equally putrid and far reaching.
Bahamian Reporter Marlena Leonard said she could smell the odor in the bus on her way to the site and residents told her they could smell it all the way in town.
Aerial images shared by the Bahamian Ministry of Works on Twitter are heartbreaking, showing the extent of the spill stretching from the bay to the open ocean.
Bahamians have taken to Twitter expressing distress, one said
“In the interest of my mental health, I am required to pretend that I did not see news about that oil spill in Exuma.”
Another said, “An oil spill anywhere in this country should spark outrage but something about seeing it happened in Exuma just feels different—“
The was a concerted effort by high ranking officials to see the scene and debrief the media. Officials from Sun Oil, BPL, the Ministry of Environment, Utilities Minister Alfred Sears, various other government officials and Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper attended the scene yesterday morning. Prime Minister Philip Davis was in Miami at the time attending a CANTO telecommunications conference.