Activist Danuta Radzik has been ordered to pay $200,000 to the Environmental Assessment Board after losing her second challenge to stall ongoing works on the Gas-to-Energy project at Wales, West Bank Demerara.
The ruling was handed down by High Court Judge Justice Simone Morris-Ramlal. The costs is to be paid on or before June 3, 2024.
In a press statement, Environmental Assessment Board said the action was filed on November 23, 2023 following the dismissal of the first.
The first action was filed on May 22, 2023 and was dismissed on September 6, 2023.
According to the statement, the action was filed to challenge a decision by the Environmental Assessment Board to uphold the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waiver of the requirement for an Environmental Impact Assessment for the Gas-to-Shore project.
“The action was dismissed as it was instituted against the wrong parties.
“Not being deterred by the dismissal of the first action, Radzik filed a second action on 23rd November, 2023 challenging the same decision made by the EAB and on 3rd May, 2024 this second claim was dismissed,” EPA explained in the statement.
In the ruling, the statement said that Justice Morris-Ramlal found that there was “inordinate” delay and that the rights of third parties would be affected.
The highly-anticipated Gas-to-Energy project will be completed by the end of 2025, as originally scheduled.
The complete project- which includes the four gas turbines and two steam turbines- is expected to provide about 300MW of power, using natural gas brought onshore through an ExxonMobil pipeline.
The project also includes a Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) facility, a transmission and distribution network and a modern control centre.