Oil Drilling Will Be Carried Out Smack in the Middle of a National Park in Belize

US Capital Energy Inc. was recently granted permission to engage in oil drilling activities in one of Belize's national parks, the Sarstoon Temash.

For the time being, only exploratory drilling will be carried out, yet environmentalists are concerned that things will soon take a turn for the worse.

Apparently, US Capital Energy intends to drill in as many as five different locations found within this national park's territory and in its proximity.

One can only assume that, when hearing the news concerning these plans to expand the oil industry into Belize's national parks, several environmentalists will shake their heads in disapproval.

Still, the Belizean government (i.e. the one that gave the green light to US Capital Energy's plans to drill in the Sarstoon Temash National Park) believes that the company's environment statement is more than satisfactory, Mongabay reports.

More precisely, the Belizean government is convinced that, as future reports will show, US Capital Energy will sooner or later know exactly what to do with the drilling mud resulting from its activities, and that the specialists working with this company will, at one point, have sufficient knowledge and training to be able to tackle any accidental spill that might occur.

On the other hand, the same source informs us that several green-oriented and non-governmental organizations have stated on several occasions that drilling for oil in this part of the Belize can translate into groundwater sources being contaminated.

Moreover, scientists working with the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide have drawn attention to the fact that, besides impacting on the locations where the drilling activities are to be carried out, this project will also lead to numerous access roads being made to cross the Sarstoon Temash National Park.

As this group puts it, “Such fragmentation is the principal cause of the loss of ‘area-sensitive’ species, and is considered the most serious threat to biological diversity.”

Hopefully, more information on this topic will soon be made available to the general public.