The Moment (London)
23 December 2011
THE Federal Government has been advised to set up independent ways of verifying the amounts of spewed crude oil disclosed by the oil companies, as a duty to communities in the Niger Delta, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth (ERA/FoEN) has demanded.
The call is coming on the heels of Shell’s forced shut down of its 200,000 barrel a day Bonga field after an alleged leak during a tanker loading caused what may be Nigeria’s worst offshore spill in more than a decade.
Media reports indicated that an export line from the Bonga floating production, storage and offloading vessel caused the leak, which Shell estimated at below 40,000 barrels of crude in a statement issued immediately after the incident.
Director of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Dr. Idris Musa was quoted as saying the agency was aware of the incident and working hard with Shell to contain the spill.
But in a statement issued in Lagos, ERA/FoEN described the incident as unfortunate, maintaining that the new spill which may be grossly undervalued, adds to the piling list of Shell’s environmental atrocities in the Niger Delta.
‘We are perplexed that even as we are yet to see the Federal Government and Shell commence the much talked-about clean-up of Ogoniland as recommended in the recently – released United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)assessment of that part of the Niger Delta, the company is going ahead to pollute the coastal and other parts of the region with reckless impunity,’ said ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Nnimmo Bassey.
‘Is it not ironical that the many oil fields including this floating station and field are named after fish and animal species probably as the only way to maintain memories of them as oil operations wipe them out?
‘In this case, Bonga, a fish species is now threatened by Shell’s massive leak. We are not satisfied with NOSDRA’s claim that it is working hard with Shell to contain the spill.
‘The people must know the true statistics which must then be followed through with a thorough cleanup of the environment. Being aware of the spill isn’t good enough. Is NOSDRA on the spot? What is the spread of the spill? What is the response?, he asked.
Bassey noted that Shell’s claim that only 40,000 barrels of crude oil was spilled into the environment cannot be trusted because past incidents showed that the company under-reported the amounts and impact of its carelessness in the Niger Delta, even as he added that Shell’s gradual selling of onshore fields and shifting offshore may be a ploy to avoid close monitoring and accountability for the ‘ecocide’ it continues to cause.
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