Oil damage in Niger Delta will take decades, billions to restore

ABUJA, Nigeria, August 5, 2011 (ENS) – Pollution from over 50 years of oil operations in the Ogoniland region of Nigeria is poisoning communities by contaminating their air, land and drinking water, an in-depth scientific assessment by the United Nations Environment Programme reveals. Conducted at the request of the Nigerian government, the UNEP report blames both the government and Royal Dutch Shell for neglect of this Niger Delta region. The report estimates that at least US$1 billion [N150 billion] is needed over the first five years to start the world’s largest oil clean-up in Ogoniland. UNEP presented its report Thursday to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in the capital Abuja. Describing the environmental challenges in Nigeria as “severe,” President Jonathan said Nigeria should receive UN assistance in checking environmental problems in the country, especially in the Niger Delta region. President Jonathan said Nigeria has paid its UN dues in all terms and has participated in peacekeeping in Africa and the rest of the world and so deserves support for the cleanup of Ogoniland. “If the United Nations can intervene in places where there are civil wars, then environmental pollution calls for its attention,” he said. The Ogoni community is exposed to hydrocarbons every day through multiple routes. While the impact of individual contaminated land sites tends to be localized, air pollution related to oil industry operations is all pervasive and affecting the quality of life of close to one million people. In at least 10 Ogoni communities where drinking water is contaminated with high levels of hydrocarbons, public health is seriously threatened, according to the UNEP assessment. In one community, at Nisisioken Ogale, in western Ogoniland, people are drinking water from wells tainted with benzene, a known carcinogen, at levels 900 times above World Health Organization guidelines. The site is close to a Nigerian National Petroleum Company pipeline. UNEP scientists found an eight cm (three inch) layer of refined oil floating on the groundwater which serves the wells. This was linked to an oil spill that occurred more than six years ago. […] The UNEP report finds that environmental restoration could take 30 years as the pollution has destroyed the communities’ fishing environment due to the lack of maintenance of oilfield infrastructure, which has created public health and safety issues. […] “The Shell Petroleum Development Company’s own procedures have not been applied, creating public health and safety issues,” the report finds. “Oil spills in the Niger Delta are a tragedy, and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) takes them very seriously. That is why we have always accepted responsibility for paying compensation when they occur as a result of operational failure,” said SPDC Managing Director Mutiu Sunmonu in a statement Thursday. […] Over a 14-month period, the UNEP team examined more than 200 locations, surveyed 122 kilometers (76 miles) of pipeline rights of way, reviewed more than 5,000 medical records and engaged over 23,000 people at local community meetings. […]

Oil Damage in Niger Delta Will Take Decades, Billions to Restore