Sinoe County, 10 September: – Recent articles published by The DayLight and republished in other outlets continue to reprint inaccuracies and misrepresent Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL)’s environmental record.

GVL is committed to protecting the environment and communities around our operational areas by delivering on our environmental protection policies.

Our environmental performance is independently audited every year as a condition of our Environmental Permit granted by the Liberian government. GVL’s environmental permits for our Liberian operations, including Tarjuowon mill, have been renewed following the submission of the most recent Environment Audit Report (EAR) in May 2024.

These reports include recommendations to optimize our environmental operations. GVL takes this feedback seriously and has developed an action plan to remedy outstanding issues. These actions will be submitted the Environmental Protection Agency in the third quarter of 2024.

No Phosphate Found in Drinking Water

The Daylight’s reporting claims that ‘water samples tested positive for excessive phosphate levels’, which could be harmful to human health. This clearly misunderstands the workings of a palm oil mill and misrepresents the auditors’ findings.

Phosphate testing was conducted on GVL’s palm oil mill effluent (POME) storage pools. These pools are used to store and treat POME before it is used as an organic fertilizer on our estates. This effluent is not meant for human consumption, and application is carefully controlled and monitored on our estates to minimize runoff into waterways. GVL will continue treatment to reduce POME phosphate levels in line with recommendations the EAR.

The EAR also identified improvements to how empty fruit bunches (EFBs) should be managed. EFBs were not found to be polluting water sources, but GVL has taken immediate steps to identify alternative areas for the safe disposal of EFBs to counter any risk of water pollution.

Committed to Action on EAR Report Recommendations

While positive about GVL’s overall environmental record, the Tarjuowon EAR identified a number of recommendations for improvement, including enhancing health and safety protocols for staff and addressing dust and noise from trucks passing through local communities. GVL has developed an action plan to address these issues in line with EAR recommendations. These changes will be implemented by the end of 2024.

GVL continues to welcome feedback from communities and encourages engagement through our grievance management process. All grievances are handled by our sustainability department and there are grievance procedures in all of our MOUs.