Date filed: 8th August 2022

Status: On Appeal

The legal claims:

The case is brought by two women who claim that the EPA acted unlawfully when it renewed Esso’s environmental permit without requiring Esso to carry out an environmental impact assessment (EIA). They ask the court to quash the permit, to issue an order to the EPA to stop Esso from carrying out petroleum operations, to make declarations of law that the renewal of a permit requires a new EIA and that the EPA is in breach of its public disclosure obligations.

The story of the case:

The case was filed in August 2022 as a Fixed Date Application with an affidavit in support. The EPA’s Defence is here. The judge added Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd. as an Added Respondent. Esso’s defence is here. The litigants replied to the EPA and Esso. Submissions were filed by the Applicants, EPA and Esso.

The court heard oral arguments on 20th April 2023. A decision was due by law no later than 18th August 2023.

At the end of the case add: Justice Younge eventually gave a decision on 26th February 2024 dismissing the case.