Shell battles another oil spill mess
Sopuruchi Onwuka
Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Nigeria Limited is back to arguments over its liability to environmental remediation related to massive oil spill affecting farm lands, fresh water and fishes in the operating environment.
First hand reports hold that the oil spill from Shell operated Trans-Niger Pipeline or TNP has contaminated farmland and river in the area, affecting farming and fishing in the communities hosting the facilities.
Unfortunately, the spill occurred at the Ogoni segment of the export pipeline, affecting communities of the Niger Delta where the company is perceived as an ancient enemy following longstanding protests over industry footprints on the environment.
The Ogoni community, The Oracle Today reports, had sacked Shell from the area over skirmishes relating to environmental pollution, causing the company to lose the large oil mining lease (OML) 11 operating license to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
In the current spill which the local communities allege has polluted the Okuku river, killed fishes and soaked farmlands in Ogoniland, a normal regulatory requirement of investigation visit has been conducted during which the the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, also called NOSDRA, determined that the spill came from Shell’s TBP,
An AP report holds that the volume of liquids spilled into the environment by the spill which began June 11 was not declared even as witnesses estimate it to be massive.
It is “one of the worst in the last 16 years in Ogoniland,” AP report quoted environmental activist, Fyneface Dumnamene, whose Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre monitors spills in the Delta region.
“It lasted for over a week, bursts into Okulu River — which adjoins other rivers and ultimately empties into the Atlantic Ocean — and affects several communities and displaces more than 300 fishers,” he explained.
Director General of NOSDRA, Idris Musa, said the leak has been contained but remediating pollution on farms and the Okulu River could not proceed as required by law. He explained that the spill response has been delayed due to protest by affected residents.
“But engagement is going on.”
