By GENEA NOEL

Freeport News Reporter

genea@nasguard.com

After months of delay, Vopak Terminal Bahamas will implode three smoke stacks that have stood at the facility for almost 40 years and hope to make this historic occasion a community event.

Max Sweeting, executive vice president, announced at a press conference yesterday that as of this Saturday the smoke stacks will no longer be a landmark for that area.

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham is expected to be in attendance and to officially set off the implosion of the buildings.

Heading the demolition team is Chester Grace of Dykon Explosives, who said that they are completing final preparations to ensure that the implosion is incident free and all safety measure are adhered to.

Less than 200 pounds of explosives will be used to do the job, and Grace said the effects of the implosion will be minimal for the residents in that area.

"Dust from the stacks should be the only problem that we expect to see,' Grace said. "You will hear a noise when the blast goes off and the vibrations which will be well contained on the property."

He added that when the stacks do hit the ground, there will be a splatter effect that would reach up to 50 feet from that area.

For precaution, Grace said all of the activities for the public on Saturday will be situated at the "Greenfield" that has been cleared some 1,000 feet away.

Grace further explained that the entire process will take about five minutes and all debris is expected to be properly removed.

When Vopak acquired BORCO last year, it made plans to expand the existing facility to accommodate its growing customer database.

Giving an update of their plans, Sweeting said that under Vopak's administration, the company is doing things a lot better.

"When Vopak came in they made sure that we remained safe and even invested in improving our safety measures and addressed the concerns that the residents may have," Sweeting said.

The "Greenfield Expan-sion," which will consist of the construction of an additional 26 new tanks, is still under review, Sweeting said, but they are on target with their work.

"We are still reviewing the size of the tanks and the period of time that we will actually get started on the project," he said, adding that the expansion should be completed over the next three years.

An expansion project called the "Brownfield expansion" is also under way at a cost of $55 million. It involves increasing the capacity of the company by constructing additional tank space at the existing terminal.

"We will be building seven new tanks, large tanks — three of half a million and four of 330,000 barrels — so in total about 2.8 million additional barrels," he said, adding that they are expected to be commissioned by the third quarter of this year.

Sweeting also addressed concerns that the company will be moving closer into the Pinder's Point community and possibly remove the Lewis Yard Primary School.

"All we are intending to do is help the school, which is why we have adopted the school and are assisting them with resources," Sweeting said. "There is no intention of moving persons in that area and we are working to create an environment that would work well with the company and surrounding areas."

Vopak is inviting the public to view the implosion exercise this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and is planning fun and games for the entire family.