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The federal government is set to clean-up the environmental degradation of Ogoniland, but how will it help the people who have been exposed to cancerous agents as a result of being exposed to hydrocarbon polluted drinking water, food crops and fisheries?
| By Maureen Chigbo | Aug 17, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT |
OGONI land and its people have been in agony for more than 50 years that oil exploration has been going on in Nigeria. The cause of their suffering has been the means through which Nigeria derive about 80 percent of its revenue. Ironically, not even a quarter of that revenue has been deployed to remedy the wrongs that have been done to Ogoni land which has been devastated by monumental oil spillage for decades. The degradation of the environment has devastated flora and fauna in the community. Consequently, several farmers and fishermen have been deprived of their main source of livelihood.
The Nigerian state played politricks with the people for the past four years that the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, issued its report which recommended for an urgent and immediate clean-up of the degraded land. While the oil giant Shell which was indicted by the report through Deizani Alison-Madueke, its former executive director, who later became the minister of petroleum resources in the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan, ensured that the report was technically buried. That happened when Alison-Madueke set up a 10-man committee to review the report. Her position was tacitly supported by other international oil companies, who contributed in ruining the goose that lays the golden egg for the Nigerian economy as they covertly and overtly colluded to deprive and dehumanise Ogoni people.
Suffice it to say that the hard fighting Ogonis were in a quandary running from pillar to post, sometimes in court to get whimpering justice such as the payment of paltry compensation as can be seen recently when a London court got Shell to pay compensation to Bodo Community in Ogoniland. It is pertinent to state that some of the victims had died before the compensation was paid. Also, the UNEP report had been in limbo until President Muhammadu Buhari resurrected it on August 5 and pledged his commitment to fast track the remediation of Ogoniland.
The UNEP report, the first of its kind of extensive study to gauge the extent of damage in Ogoniland, is aimed at reconciling the community with their exploiters in a long drawn battle that has seen their kith and kin brutally murdered by the Nigerian state egged on by the oil companies. There is the case of the brutal murder of the Ogoni five and another 10 under controversial circumstances in the 1980s. This was followed by the hanging of Ken Saro Wiwa, rights activists and leader of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People, which attracted international opprobrium for the country during the late General Sani Abacha regime.
According to the UNEP report, “Ogoniland has a tragic history of pollution from oil spills and oil well fires, although no systematic scientific information has been available about the ensuing contamination”. The UNEP’s field observations and scientific investigations found that oil contamination in Ogoniland was widespread and severely impacting many components of the environment.
Even though the oil industry is no longer active in Ogoniland, oil spills continue to occur with alarming regularity. “The Ogoni people live with this pollution every day. As Ogoniland has high rainfall, any delay in cleaning up an oil spill leads to oil being washed away, traversing farmland and almost always ending up in the creeks. When oil reaches the root zone, crops and other plants begin to experience stress and can die, and this is a routine observation in Ogoniland,” the UNEP said.
At the Ejama-Ebubu site in Eleme local government area, the study found heavy contamination present 40 years after an oil spill occurred, despite repeated clean-up attempts. The assessment found that overlapping authorities and responsibilities between ministries and a lack of resources within key agencies had serious implications for environmental management on the ground, including enforcement. Remote sensing revealed the rapid proliferation in the past two years of artisanal refining, whereby crude oil was distilled in makeshift facilities. The study found that this illegal activity was endangering lives and causing pockets of environmental devastation in Ogoniland and neighbouring areas.
The report concluded that pollution of soil by petroleum hydrocarbons in Ogoniland was extensive in land areas, sediments and swampland. Most of the contamination was from crude oil although contamination by refined product was found at three locations. The assessment found there is no continuous clay layer across Ogoniland, exposing the groundwater in Ogoniland (and beyond) to hydrocarbons spilled on the surface. In 49 cases, the UNEP observed hydrocarbons in soil at depths of at least 5m.
The finding has major implications for the type of remediation required. At least two-thirds of the contaminated land sites is close to oil industry facilities which were assessed in detail, the soil contamination exceeds Nigerian national standards, as set out in the Environmental Guidelines.
The study found that at 41 sites where the hydrocarbon pollution had reached the groundwater at levels in excess of the Nigerian standards as per the EGASPIN legislation. The most serious case of groundwater contamination is at Nisisioken Ogale, in Eleme LGA, close to a Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, product pipeline where an 8cm layer of refined oil was observed floating on the groundwater which serves the community’s wells. “Oil pollution in many intertidal creeks has left mangroves denuded of leaves and stems, leaving roots coated in a bitumen-like substance sometimes 1 cm or more thick. Mangroves are spawning areas for fish and nurseries for juvenile fish and the extensive pollution of these areas is impacting the fish life-cycle. Any crops in areas directly impacted by oil spills will be damaged, and root crops, such as cassava, will become unusable. When farming recommences, plants generally show signs of stress and yields are reportedly lower than in non-impacted areas.
“When an oil spill occurs on land fires often break out, killing vegetation and creating a crust over the land, making remediation or revegetation difficult. Channels that have been widened and the resulting dredged material are clearly evident in satellite images, decades after the dredging operation. Without proper rehabilitation, former mangrove areas which have been converted to bare ground are being colonised by invasive species such as nipa palm (which appears to be more resistant to heavy hydrocarbon pollution than native vegetation).
“In Bodo West, in Bonny LGA, an increase in artisanal refining between 2007 and 2011 has been accompanied by a 10 percent loss of healthy mangrove cover, or 307,381m2. If left unchecked, this may lead to irreversible loss of mangrove habitat in this area,” the UNEP report said. The UNEP investigation found that the surface water throughout the creeks contains hydrocarbons. Floating layers of oil vary from thick black oil to thin sheens. The highest reading of dissolved hydrocarbon in the water column, of 7,420 μg/l, was detected at Ataba-Otokroma, bordering the Gokana and Andoni LGAs. “Fish tend to leave polluted areas in search of cleaner water, and fishermen must therefore also move to less contaminated areas in search of fish. When encountered in known polluted areas, fishermen reported that they were going to fishing grounds further upstream or downstream,” it said.
The report observed that despite community concerns about the quality of fish, the results showed that the accumulation of hydrocarbons in fish was not a serious health issue in Ogoniland but that the fisheries sector was suffering due to the destruction of fish habitat in the mangroves and highly persistent contamination of many of the creeks, making them unsuitable for fishing. Where a number of entrepreneurs had set up fish farms in or close to the creeks, their businesses were ruined by an ever-present layer of floating oil.
According to the UNEP, the wetlands around Ogoniland are highly degraded and facing disintegration. The study concluded that while it was technically feasible to restore effective ecosystem functioning of the wetlands, this would only be possible if technical and political initiatives were undertaken.
Apart from this, the report similarly raised some public health issues. “The Ogoni community is exposed to petroleum hydrocarbons in outdoor air and drinking water, sometimes at elevated concentrations. They are also exposed through dermal contacts from contaminated soil, sediments and surface water. Since average life expectancy in Nigeria is less than 50 years, it is a fair assumption that most members of the current Ogoniland community have lived with chronic oil pollution throughout their lives.
“Of most immediate concern, community members at Nisisioken Ogale are drinking water from wells that is contaminated with benzene, a known carcinogen, at levels over 900 times above the World Health Organisation, WHO, guideline,” UNEP said. The report states that this contamination warrants emergency action ahead of all other remediation efforts. Hydrocarbon contamination was found in water taken from 28 wells at 10 communities adjacent to contaminated sites. At seven wells the samples are at least 1,000 times higher than the Nigerian drinking water standard of 3 μg/l. Local communities are aware of the pollution and its dangers but stated that they continue to use the water for drinking, bathing, washing and cooking as they have no alternative. Benzene was detected in all air samples at concentrations ranging from 0.155 to 48.2 μg/m3. Approximately 10 per cent of detected benzene concentrations in Ogoniland were higher than the concentrations WHO and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, USEPA, report as corresponding to a 1 in 10,000 cancer risk. Many of the benzene concentrations detected in Ogoniland were similar to those measured elsewhere in the world, given the prevalence of fuel use and other sources of benzene. However, the findings show that some benzene concentrations in Ogoniland were higher than those being measured in more economically developed regions where benzene concentrations are declining because of efforts to reduce benzene exposure.”
The UNEP report went as far as noting institutional issues which contributed to the devastation of Ogoniland. First issued in 1992, the EGASPIN formed the operational basis for environmental regulation of the oil industry in Nigeria. However, this key legislation is internally inconsistent with regard to one of the most important criteria for oil spill and contaminated site management specifically the criteria which trigger remediation or indicate its closure (called the ‘intervention’ and ‘target’ values respectively).
The report provided baseline information on the scale of the challenge for Ogoniland and priorities for action in terms of clean-up and remediation.
The study found that the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, had differing interpretations of the EGASPIN. This enables the oil industry to close down the remediation process well before contamination has been eliminated and soil quality has been restored to achieve functionality for human, animal and plant life. However, the Nigerian government agencies concerned lack qualified technical experts and resources.
In the five years since NOSDRA was established, so few resources have been allocated that the agency has no proactive capacity for oil-spill detection. In planning their inspection visits to some oil spill sites, the regulatory authority is wholly reliant on the oil industry for logistical support.
The oilfield in Ogoniland is interwoven with the Ogoni community. The fact that communities have set up houses and farms along rights of way is one indicator of the loss of control on the part of the pipeline operator and the government regulator. The UNEP project team observed hundreds of industrial packing bags containing 1,000- 1,500 m3 of waste, believed to be cuttings from oil drilling operations, dumped at a former sand mine in Oken Oyaa in Eleme LGA. The open disposal of such waste in an unlined pit demonstrates that the chain of custody in the region between the waste generator, transporter and disposal facility is not being followed.
On oil industry practices, the study noted that the control, maintenance and decommissioning of oilfield infrastructure in Ogoniland were inadequate. “Industry best practices and SPDC’s own procedures have not been applied, creating public safety issues. Remediation by enhanced natural attenuation (RENA) – so far the only remediation method observed by UNEP in Ogoniland – has not proven to be effective. Currently, SPDC applies this technique on the land surface layer only, based on the assumption that given the nature of the oil, temperature and an underlying layer of clay, hydrocarbons will not move deeper. However, this basic premise is not sustainable as observations made by UNEP show that contamination can often penetrate deeper than 5 m and has reached the groundwater in many locations,” the report said.
According to the UNEP, 10 out of the 15 investigated sites which Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, records show as having completed remediation, still have pollution exceeding the SPDC (and government) remediation closure values. The study found that the contamination at eight of these sites had migrated to the groundwater.
In January 2010, a new Remediation Management System was adopted by all Shell Exploration and Production Companies in Nigeria. The study found that while the new changes were an improvement, they still did not meet the local regulatory requirements or international best practices.
The study said that the environmental restoration of Ogoniland was possible but could take 25 to 30 years. The report contained numerous recommendations that, once implemented, would have an immediate and positive impact on Ogoniland.
Further recommendations have longer timelines that will bring lasting improvements for Ogoniland and Nigeria as a whole. According to experts, the hydraulic connection between contaminated land and creeks has important implications for the sequence of remediation to be carried out. Until the land-based contamination has been dealt with, it will be futile to begin a clean-up of the creeks.
“Due to the wide extent of contamination in Ogoniland and nearby areas, and the varying degrees of degradation, there will not be one single clean-up technique appropriate for the entire area. A combination of approaches will therefore need to be considered, ranging from active intervention for cleaning the top soil and replanting mangrove to passive monitoring of natural regeneration. Practical action at the regulatory, operational and monitoring levels is also proposed,” the report said.
This report represents the best available understanding of what has happened to the environment of Ogoniland – and the corresponding implications for affected populations – and provides clear operational guidance as to how that legacy can be addressed. The assessment process involved desk review, fieldwork and laboratory analysis, the two year study of the environmental and public health impacts of oil contamination in Ogoni land is one of the most complex on-the ground assessments ever undertaken by the UNEP. The UNEP recruited a team of international experts in disciplines such as contaminated land, water, forestry and public health, who worked under the guidance of senior UNEP managers.
This team worked side-by-side with local experts, academics and support teams comprised of logistics, community liaison and security staff. The UNEP project team surveyed 122 kms of pipeline rights of way and visited all oil spill sites, oil wells and other oil-related facilities in Ogoniland, including decommissioned and abandoned facilities, that were known and accessible to the UNEP during the fieldwork period, based on information provided by the Government regulators, the SPDC, and community members in and around Ogoniland. Public meetings staged throughout Ogoniland during each phase of the study helped to build understanding of the UNEP’s project and to foster community participation During aerial reconnaissance missions, the UNEP experts observed oil pollution which was not readily visible from the ground, including artisanal refining sites. Information provided by Ogoniland residents about oil contamination in their communities supplemented official oil spill data supplied by the Nigerian Government and SPDC.
Following its initial investigations, the UNEP identified 69 sites for detailed soil and groundwater investigations. In addition, samples of community drinking water, sediments from creeks, surface water, rainwater, fish and air were collected throughout Ogoniland and in several neighbouring areas. Altogether more than 4,000 samples were analysed, including water drawn from 142 groundwater monitoring wells drilled specifically for the study, and soil extracted from 780 boreholes. The UNEP project team also examined more than 5,000 medical records and staged 264 formal community meetings in Ogoniland attended by over 23,000 people.
The UNEP report did not mince words in hammering the urgency needed to deal with harm oil companies especially Shell caused to Ogoni people. But relief has also taken a long time in coming. This is why the average Ogoni man may now feel a sense of affinity to President Buhari who has just rekindled hope about the implementation of the UNEP report last week.
According to a statement issued by Femi Adesina, special adviser to the president, Media and Publicity, which was made available to Realnews on Wednesday, August 5, “in keeping with his avowed commitment to working for the development and well-being of all Nigerians, Buhari approved several actions to fast-track the long delayed implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme, UNEP, report on the environmental restoration of Ogoniland.”
The actions approved by President Buhari, based on recommendations to him by the executive director of the UNEP, the UNEP special representative for Ogoniland, permanent secretaries of the federal ministries of environment and petroleum resources, and other stakeholders, include the amendment of the Official Gazette establishing the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project, HYPREP, to reflect a new governance framework comprising a Governing Council, a Board of Trustees and Project Management.
The president also approved that the HYPREP governing council should be comprise one representative each from ministry of petroleum resources, federal ministry of environment and impacted States (Rivers) while oil companies and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC should have four representatives.
Also Ogoniland will have two representatives, and one from United Nations System. The secretariat of the council should be headed by a project manager. The president also approved the composition of a board of trustees for the HYPREP Trust Fund to comprise one representative each from the federal government, NNPC, International Oil Companies, Ogoniland, and United Nations System.
“Following a meeting held on the directive of President Buhari, it was also agreed that a contribution deposit of 10 million United States dollars will be made by stakeholders within 30 days of the appointment of members of the Board of Trustees for the Trust Fund who will be responsible for collecting and managing funds from contributors and donors. “A new implementation template has also been evolved at the instance of President Buhari, and the environmental clean-up of Ogoniland will commence in earnest with the President’s inauguration of the HYPREP Governing Council and the Board of Trustees for the Trust Fund,” Adesina said.
Expectedly, many Nigerians albeit Ogoni people in particular have heaved a sigh of relief even though they are still trapped in a long dark tunnel of environmental degradation which will take between 25 to 30 years to remediate, according to the UNEP.
Senator Magnus Abe, former commissioner of information in Rivers State who is also from Ogoni, told Realnews that it had been a long route to justice. “I want to congratulate the president for what he has done. By his action, it shows that you can get justice without recourse to violence. Ogoni people kept the battle without resorting to violence and the previous government kept passing the baton until today when we recorded this singular success. We were in the PDP for years but Jonathan refused to consider the plight of Ogoni people.
“Today, a Northerner, a Muslim, regardless of religion has shown that he is a true Nigerian. He has vindicated those of us who had to leave PDP. Buhari has made us extremely proud for those of us who left PDP,” Abe said.
Similarly, Monday Ubani, lawyer and human rights activist, commended the president for implement the report. “This is one of the things we asked President Buhari to do. He should take the whole country as his constituency and run Nigeria as one. It is not a question of doing something because somebody is from the North, Niger Delta or East. Any place where it is important for development or whatever thing that is due to people should be given to them irrespective of where they belong. If another person failed to do it and he has done it he is doing the right thing. So, it is a commendable effort that the president has ordered for the cleaning up of that environment,” Ubani said.
The activist is also of the view that the issue should not be politicised that Jonathan did not do it and Buhari is doing it because it is of no consequence. The important thing is that somebody is doing it. And Nigerians and Ogonis are watching and waiting to see their land return back to what it used to be. Only time will tell if the federal government is serious this time around about salvaging the Ogoniland.
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