Montserrat initiates environmental assessment for geothermal project
Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat (source: flickr/ David Stanley, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
14 Sep 2012
The Government of Montserrat has hired Barbados-based Atom Solutions for an environmental and social assessment of planned exploration for a geothermal power project on this Caribbean island state.
Reported and confirmed yesterday, the Government of Montserrat, a UK territory in the Caribbean, has contracted Atom Solutions from Barbados “to conduct an environmental and social impact assessment” of the planned geothermal exploration on the island.
Ron Beardsley, director of public works in the Ministry of Communications & Works, said “given the
“Given the location we are not anticipating too many issues, and the impact of ash and acid rain has taken its toll on the area, and there are no habitable dwellings nearby.”
Once the assessment is completed, Montserrat will then appoint a drilling contractor to drill two exploratory production wells. Drilling tenders were opened Aug. 31.
“The drilling will take approximately four months and is expected to commence at the turn of the year,” Beardsley said. “We will then test the resource over several months before deciding on the next phase of the project.”
The impact assessment began this week and is expected to last six weeks.”
Source: Caribbean Journal
