Royal Builders Inc. is proposing a $150 million wharf and sand-and-loam depot at Hyde Park, Timehri, for which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that an Environmental Impact Assessment is not required.
The proposed operation would receive construction materials by barge from Sandhill in the Upper Demerara River for storage and distribution to customers.
In a notice uploaded on October 19, the EPA said the project’s environmental effects could be mitigated. It stressed that the EIA exemption did not constitute project approval and invited affected persons to appeal within 30 days of publication.
The developer’s project summary identifies the site as Plot “DT” and Tract “CC,” comprising approximately 0.3662 acre of leased land with about 150 feet of Demerara River frontage.
The proposal includes a greenheart timber wharf approximately 150 feet long and 30 feet wide. It projects handling about 12,000 tonnes of sand and loam monthly, delivered by barges with capacities of up to approximately 1,600 tonnes.
Maximum storage would be about 1,000 tonnes at any one time, requiring deliveries and customer collections to be coordinated.
The company anticipates employing approximately 20 persons during construction and five during operation. Proposed operating hours are 8 am to 4 pm.
The need for dredging has not been established. The summary says this would depend on channel conditions and the loaded draft of barges, with any dredging subject to technical assessment and regulatory approvals.
The site has houses across the public road and an animal clinic immediately to its south. The developer identifies dust, noise, runoff, truck movements and fuel spills among the potential effects requiring controls.
In its screening decision, the EPA classified particulate and gaseous emissions as moderate, medium-term and mitigable through measures including wet suppression, stockpile covering and paved access.
Noise and vibration were described as moderate and periodic, with equipment maintenance and noise-suppression measures proposed.
The agency said surface-water effects could be reduced through a sedimentation pond, storage of aggregate on concrete and measures preventing direct discharges into the Demerara River. Hazardous waste would be handled separately under the applicable regulations.
Royal Builders, headed by Parmeshwar Jagmohan, had previously submitted an extractive-sector proposal to the EPA. Stabroek News reported in January 2021 that the company proposed a stone quarry at Mabura Hill, Region Ten. The EPA also determined that an EIA was unnecessary for that proposal. That report did not establish whether the quarry subsequently became operational.
Appeals against the Timehri project’s EIA exemption should be addressed to the Chairman of the Environmental Assessment Board at [email protected].
Discussion