Oil leak: Two committees appointed

By Ifham Nizam

Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila has appointed two committees to investigate into the oil leak at the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery, during floods in the weekend, affecting the vicinity, a senior Energy Ministry official said.

The official said that the two committees should submit reports by June 21, 2021 to the Energy Minister.

Energy Minister Gammanpila yesterday said a groundwater treatment plant that purifies oil has been inundated thereby oil was mixed with the floodwater. This affected the nearby areas, the Minister said.

“As the Minister of Energy, I appointed two committees to probe the incident,”Gammanpila said.

He said the oil leak was caused through a treatment plant located at the surface level since the 1960s.

The Minister appointed a committee of inquiry to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the incident and to find out the factors that contributed to the recurrence of such incidents and to recommend action to be taken to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.

The committee has been appointed under the chairmanship of Private Secretary to the Minister of Energy Upul Wijesekera. The other members of the committee are Nayana E. Senaratne, Senior Assistant Secretary (Administration), Ministry of Energy, Menaka Jeevasiri, Operations Manager, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, Bhupathi Kahathuduwa, Attorney-at-Law (Externally Appointed Committee Member).

The Minister also appointed a compensation committee to provide immediate compensation to the people affected by this incident. The members of the Compensation Committee chaired by Y A B S Priyankara, Senior Manager, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation are Sapugaskanda Refinery Manager (Civil) P F W Dayanath and Chartered Assessor Tharaka Weragoda (Externally Appointed Committee Member).