US embassy cable - 05SANTODOMINGO4805

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SANTO DOMINGO 004805 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA, WHA/CAR, WHA/EPSC, INR/IAA, EB/ESC/IEC/EPC; 
NSC FOR LATIN AMERICA ADVISOR; USSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD; 
TREASURY FOR OASIA-MAUREEN WAFER; DHS FOR CIS-CARLOS 
ITURREGUI 
USDOC FOR 4322/ITA/MAC/WH/CARIBBEAN BASIN DIVISION; USDOC 
FOR 3134/ITA/USFCS/RD/WH; 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: DR, ECON, EFIN, ENRG, EPET, ETRD, PGOV, Dominican Politics 
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN POLITICS II # 4: OUTSPOKEN REFINERY 
DIRECTOR REPLACED AFTER GAS LEAK 
 
REF: SANTO DOMINGO 4743 
 
1. This is the fourth cable in a series of political 
reporting on the second year of the administration of 
Dominican president Leonel Fernandez: 
 
Outspoken Refinery Director Replaced After Gas Leak 
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President Leonel Fernandez dismissed outspoken director of 
the National Oil Refiner (REFIDOMSA) Aristides Fernandez 
Zucco on October 25, 2005, ostensibly because of a gas leak 
that affected a large sector of Santo Domingo.  Fernandez 
Zucco had emphatically denied the refinery was responsible 
for the pungent smell of cooking gas that covered most of the 
capital from early in the morning of October 24, but 
subsequent investigation revealed that refinery employees had 
tried to conceal errors in handling a gas additive. 
Fernandez selected his energy advisor Eduardo Rodriguez to 
replace Zucco, who had been a feisty critic of arrangements 
for purchases of Venezuelan oil. 
 
A Bad Odor, Everywhere 
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Much of western and central Santo Domingo awoke on Monday, 
October 24 to pungent odors that seemed to indicate a massive 
leak of cooking gas during the night. The odor was 
characteristic of ethyl mercaptan, also known as ethanethiol, 
a substance routinely added as a marker to petroleum gas, 
which is itself odorless and colorless.  The lack of 
explanation in the media further spurred confusion, verging 
on panic in some cases. There was speculation of an explosion 
at REFDOMSA and reports of a fire in a gas bottling plant in 
northeast Santo Domingo.  Secretary of Industry and Commerce 
Javier Garcia reportedly replied to a reporter that the 
refinery must be the source. 
 
At about 8:30, refinery director Aristides Fernandez Zucco 
telephoned the widely-watched broadcast on news channel CDN 
with an emphatic denial that REFIDOMSA was responsible for 
any leak. He told listeners that the REFIDOMSA general 
manager had made a thorough investigation, starting at 6 
a.m., that the routine cleaning with water of a small tank of 
ethyl mercaptan on Sunday could not have caused the odors, 
and that in any case the prevailing winds would not have sent 
refinery gases over the city. 
 
Concern and speculation increased.  Many schools closed and 
initial press reports suggested that children were dropping 
right and left.  In fact, although there were some admissions 
at hospitals, few seemed directly related to gas toxicity. 
During the course of the day military investigators detained 
the refinery,s general manager for several hours for 
questioning. In the afternoon Environment Under Secretary 
Zoila Gonzalez told the press that the refinery was the 
source of the discharge.  Director of Civil Defense Gen. Luis 
Luna Paulino gave the same finding and recommended an 
investigation.  Armed Forces Minister Admiral Sigfrido Pared 
Perez told local news that there was negligence involved, and 
the individuals charge of washing the tank did not realize 
that the northward passage of tropical storm Alpha over the 
island during the weekend had disrupted weather patterns. 
The prevailing breeze had reversed, so that the discharged 
gas was carried northeast across the capital 
 
At no time was there any serious threat of a Bhopal-type 
incident of widespread toxic poisoning.  Ethyl mercaptan is 
non-toxic by inhalation at usual concentrations; the U.S. 
OSHA standards limit it to 10 parts per million in industrial 
environments and within cooking gas it is at 30 parts per 
million.  The Dominican National Emergency Commission 
provided accurate information to the public, stating that 
the gas was slightly toxic and could cause bronchial 
irritation, respiratory difficulties, vomiting, and 
conjunctivitis, in addition to headaches, nausea and loss of 
consciousness. 
 
Reversing Field, Too Late 
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A chagrined Fernandez Zucco made a public apology at a press 
conference the next day.  He confirmed that the discharge and 
odor did come from REFIDOMSA and said that he had been 
deliberately misinformed by individuals who sought to escape 
responsibility for the incident.  That same evening Fernandez 
signed a decree replacing Fernandez Zucco with Eduardo 
Rodriguez, previously the presidential advisor on energy. 
 
Rodriguez, an expert on the petroleum industry, had served as 
coordinator of the government,s Power Sector Recovery 
Committee, overseeing efforts to improve collections and 
sector performance with technical assistance from 
international donors.  Earlier, Rodriguez had served as 
technical leader of the team that sought ways to reduce 
subsidies on cooking gas, an effort frustrated first by 
delays and ultimately by a political decision to avoid 
protests. 
Some have speculated that the gas leak incident was a trap 
laid for Fernandez Zucco or at least an opportune moment to 
sideline him.  Nicknamed  &El Chato8 ("Pugnose8), 
Fernandez Zucco had repeatedly gone public to oppose 
Venezuelan demands to change shipping arrangements for 
Venezuelan-financed crude (he lost), to quarrel with 
Venezuelan ambassador Belisario Landis, to denounce the 
involvement of Dominican ambassador Miguel Mejia for 
advocating the Venezuelan position, to deprecate the 
effectiveness of the Caracas accord and the Petrocaribe 
agreement, to blame refinery partner Shell for inefficiencies 
and withholding dividends from the government, and to 
advocate revising refinery ownership and management 
arrangements.  President Fernandez had gathered all parties 
for conciliation on September 21 and had emerged with a joint 
promise to make maximum benefit of the 50,000 barrels per day 
potentially available to the Dominicans through Petrocaribe. 
 Many had thought that Fernandez Zucco would go, sooner or 
later; after failing to follow the basic management maxim of 
&trust but verify,8 on Monday morning &El Chato8 provided 
the opportunity when he contradicted Javier Garcia, one of 
the administration,s inner circle.  Among an urban 
population that considered itself half-poisoned already, 
there were very few defenders for him. 
2. (U)  Drafted by Jehan Jones, Michael Meigs 
3. (U) This piece and others in our series can be consulted 
at our SIPRNET web site, 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/santodmingo 
along with extensive other material. 
KUBISKE