The environmental impact of industrial development in Trinidad and tobago

Environmentally devastated areas

❖ In Trinidad, the west coast is the most environmentally stressed coastal area
Why is this
1. with over 85 percent of the population living there
2. it employs over 90 per cent of the labour force.
❖ The Point Lisas Industrial Estate was established on marginal sugar-cane land
❖ consisting of fringing mangroves along the coast.

❖ In 1966, the Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Corporation (PLIPDECO) was
established
❖ with the government holding majority shares.
❖ The industries located on the estate were iron and steel, fertilizers, urea, methanol
and power generation.
❖ During its existence, Point Lisas has had serious eco- logical and sociological impacts
❖ on the beach/mangrove and offshore zones.
❖ In 1978, the government of Trinidad and Tobago Tobago identified Point Lisas as a
priority area for housing.

The diversion of the Couva River

❖ As a result, a decision was taken to divert the Couva River into Carli Bay.
❖ This was designed primarily to:
1. Improve drainage from the industrial estate
2. Build the new housing
3. to accommodate the increased run-off.
4. Accommodate the large volumes of hot water to be released from the power station,
fertilizer and metha- nol plants
5. Increase the water circulation in Couva and Carli Bays so that water temperature at
the cooling water intake site in Couva Bay would not be raised.
❖ By 1985, a dredged channel into Carli Bay had been completed.
❖ Initially the dredged spoil was dumped into the bay
- but this caused siltation problems
- it had to be placed between the original river and the dredged channel.
❖ In addition, a dam was built near the proposed housing development
- with the reservoir being used as an emergency water supply for the industrial estate,
- as well as a source of recreation for residents living in the housing development
 ❖ The ecological and sociological impacts resulting from these activities include the
following:
1. The dredging of the new river mouth and channel has resulted in loss of benthic (river
and sea-bed) habitats in Carli Bay
2. a decline in the popula- tion levels of commercially important shrimp and fish.
3. The dredging and dumping of the spoil has destroyed over 15 hectares of wetlands with
the subsequent loss of edible land crabs, oysters and mussels. •
4. The construction of the dam on the Couva River led to the accumulation of untreated
sugar-factory wastes in the lake.
- The untreated sugar waste in the lake means that it could not serve its
emergency reservoir or recreational functions.
5. It also formed a barrier obstructing animals that need to migrate for breeding purposes
el- ther from freshwater to the sea or vice versa.
6. The construction activities caused siltation of some of the natural drainage channels,
leading to stagnant water conditions
7. The commercial shellfish trade has been abandoned completely.
❖ The total impact of the industrial and housing estates on the coastal zone was far
greater.
❖ Much of the environmental damage is irreversible
❖ but some could be reversed at a cost.
Reversible damages
1. The pollution in the reservoir could be reversed by treating the waste from the sugar
factory.
2. The dam could also be modified to allow fish to migrate both up- and downstream.

Irreversible damages includes

1. includes the loss of benthic habitats
2. the decline of the fish and shrimp industry.
3. the loss of wetlands is also irreversible.

The Environmental impact assessment (EIA)

❏ These adverse impacts could ha been reduced or negated completely had an environ-
mental impact assessment (EIA)
❏ conducted by and its recommendations implemented by an effective agency.
❏ Other environmental impacts include a large urban heat island that formed due to the
large amount of industrial activity in the area.
- Much dust is generated in the atmosphere by industries such as the iron and
steel plant
- that converts iron ore fines to iron ore pellets
- hot briquetted iron and direct reduced iron (DRI).
These dust particles act as condensation nuclei that encourage cloud formation and rain
over the area.
The aluminium smelter
❖ Environmental concerns contributed to the termination of construction of an aluminium
smelter at Vessigny, near La Brea, in 2009
❖ after much of the land allocated to it had already been cleared.
❖ Large projects such as these require a Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC)
from the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) of Trinidad and Tobago.
❖ Air-dispersion modelling (ADM) is an important part of the process of environmental
assessment, whereby wind movement, topography and land use are considered.
Further pollution
★ Pollution related to the oil industry continues to be a problem
★ in December 2013 a massive oil spill occurred along the coastline of the La Brea area in
the south-western peninsula.