Scrutiny of Paria Fuel Trading and contractor LMCS is mounting in Trinidad & Tobago following a deadly accident in late February.
The pipeline accident left four dead, while one diver, Christopher Boodram, survived. The Sunday Express interviewed Boodram on the weekend.
The diver called for the authorities to prosecute Paria and the Coast Guard. They had, he said, stopped rescuers from saving the four.
The five men had been working on a pipeline at Pointe a Pierre when they became trapped inside. Divers managed to rescue Boodram.
Tornado
The rescued man said the maintenance that day had involved removing a metal plate, installing a new riser piece onto an old riser and then bolting it down. The workers had removed two plugs when “the whole room … started to flood in an instant”.
The entry of the water was like being in a “tornado”, Boodram told the newspaper. “After that I remember being inside the pipe getting flushed down, and it felt like 50 to 100 miles per hour. I remember hurtling in that pipeline at unimaginable speed. It felt like it was a tornado. I remember trying to stop myself in the pipe and I was just skating,” he said.
The force of the water swept the diver into an air pocket. He dragged himself through the 36 inch diameter pipeline, feet first, until he encountered some of the other divers. They began working their way along the pipe in an effort to escape.
Abandoned
Boodram said he left the four men behind in order to seek help. He managed to return to the hyperbaric chamber but lacked the strength to reach it.
“I started to cry. I reach all this way back and expected some help. I break down. How they could leave we here? They abandon we here?” he told the Sunday Express. “I was crushed thinking I fight so much to reach up here and nobody here at the end of this pipe to grab me and pull me out.”
Fortunately, two rescue divers then appeared and helped him enter the chamber. Boodram called on those around him to go back and rescue the other four men.
However, he said, Paria informed the Coast Guard not to let divers into the pipeline. “All of them were living and Paria made a conscious decision to murder my friends by telling the Coast Guard to not allow no more divers into the pipeline to rescue them,” he said.
Blame game
LMCS has blamed Paria for obstructing efforts to rescue the four. The contractor, in a statement, said “we were prevented from executing this rescue by Paria and the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard. We were not given the chance to save the lives of our employees”.
Paria rejected LMCS’ suggestion. The pipeline had been inactive since before December 2018, it said.
When the incident occurred, Paria activated its incident management team, it said. It also contacted emergency responders.
Boodram’s rescuer had returned to the pipeline but not found anyone else, Paria said. As a result, the company and the Coast Guard found it was too dangerous for anyone else to enter the pipeline.
Oversight
Boodram also said he had been involved in another near-fatal accident for Paria in December 2021. Workers had to dive into the water in order to avoid a fire on a gas line they were repairing, he said.
The diver said there had been no investigation into this accident.
The Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) launched an inquiry into what happened on February 25. Paria is “fully committed” to working with the investigation. It would provide all relevant documents and information.
OSHA has stepped up its pressure on Paria and contractor LMCS. On March 12, the agency ordered the two companies to halt all maintenance work and diving operations.
The government has appointed Justice Dennis Morrison to lead the commission of enquiry into the Paria accident.
Opposition politicians from the United National Congress (UNC) have raised concerns over how the investigation into the Paria accident is progressing.
MP Roodal Moonilal said OSHA had not acted fast enough. He called for more transparency in how the agency was preparing the report.