The Environmental Protection Agency refuses to grant a permit to the Sentuo Oil Refinery in Tema Newtown because their proposed construction site is on a wetland. Despite the EPA’s refusal to grant a permit to the Sentuo Oil Refinery, the project is still moving forward.
According to Citi News, the EPA claims the Chinese-owned Sentuo Oil Refinery proposed construction site is on a wetland that could not be developed.
However, in an unusual twist, the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) has defended the company’s actions, claiming that the site is not a wetland.
The TDC’s Protocol and Administrative Officer, Ian Ocquaye, maintains that the construction can proceed because the site is not a wetland.
“There are some water lines that run through portions of the 96-acre land that we want to apply for. As a consequence, it’s just normal that certain areas would be marshy. But that doesn’t suggest that location is a wetlands,” he insisted.
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Meanwhile, the EPA has defended its determination that the refinery’s site is a wetland that runs through the Chemu Lagoon.
Dr. Henry Kokofu, the organization’s Executive Director, told Citi News that his organization will do everything possible to protect the lagoon.
“At the EPA, our key goal is to rebuild the Chemu Lagoon. We would not allow any action that will exacerbate the lagoon’s devastation. The whole landscape has been a wetland from the beginning. The dynamics shifted as a result of consistent growth. The lagoon runs down to several areas and then into the sea, according to our investigations…[but] it has been blocked by this established company.”
The annual capability of Sentuo was estimated to be between 1.5 and 3 million metric tonnes.
According to correspondence with the Electricity Company of Ghana, it had also demanded the relocation of two 33Kv pylons for which it was expected to pay GHS1.1 million.
However, in a letter dated May 21, 2020, the EPA provided additional context by declaring the project’s planned site as a wetland after a scope report.
The region has been designated as a flood-buffer site.
The EPA also said that the location was too near to Tema Newtown and would exacerbate traffic congestion.
Source: CITINEWSROOM
