(159b) Oil Pollution, Environmental Degradation and Restoration of Nigeria's Ogoniland

Human activities especially those of oil exploration and exploitation raise a number of issues such as depletion of biodiversity, coastal and riverbank erosion, flooding, oil spillage, gas flaring, noise pollution, sewage and wastewater pollution, land degradation, soil fertility loss and deforestation, which are all major environmental issues.

Ogoniland is characterized by typically deltaic features; uneven terrain, numerous creeks, shallow brackish water bodies and a variety of vegetation types including swamp forest. The land has a groundwater either as localized aquifers or in hydraulically interconnected aquifers. Ogoniland is not an Island. This has two implications. The first is that pollution from Ogoniland has the potential to reach and cross its boundaries as well as entering Ogoniland from extreme sources.

Petroleum hydrocarbons are naturally occurring hydrocarbons substances and depending on the length of the carbon, can occur in gas, liquid and solid form. However, hydrocarbons refer to chemical substances formed exclusively from carbon and hydrogen by the decay of organic substances trapped within sedimentary rocks.

Hydrocarbons substantially alter the physical and chemical properties of the soil once it comes in contact with it. The contact could be from the natural seepage of hydrocarbons to accidental seepage of crude oil on the ground. In the case of water, hydrocarbons can cause both physical and chemical effects by preventing oxygen transfer in the water column, thus affecting aquatic life-support systems. As regards vegetation, where spillage is not immediately attended to, oil spills often lead to fires, causing total or partial destruction of vegetation. Dissolved or emulsified oil in the water column can contaminate the plankton, algae, fish, eggs and the vertebrae larvae. Also, physical contacts with oil destroys the insulation of fur and feathers, and more often, birds ingest oil which have lethal or sub-lethal impacts through, for example, liver and kidney damage.

Residents in these areas, face the risk of dangerous exposure to hydrocarbons when they breathe, bathe, eat fish, drink water or accidentally eat or touch soil or sediment that is contaminated with oil. In addition to the chemical pollution by hydrocarbons, there are other environmental concerns linked with oil industry operations. These range from clearance of land for oilfield facilities, hydrological changes due to construction of roads and pipelines and contamination from chemicals other than hydrocarbons.

There must be maintenance of oilfield facilities, decommissioning of oilfield facilities and prevention of illegal activities, oil spill response and remediation of contaminated sites. Environmental restoration includes the establishment of an Integrated Contaminated Soil Management Centre (ICSMCS), setting up of mini-treatment centers and rehabilitation of mangroves.

Part of the actions is 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.

There must be an end to the widespread pipeline sabotage, crude oil theft and illegal refining that are the main cause of environmental damage in Ogoniland and the wider Niger Delta.

There should be transfer of oversight of the Environmental Guidelines and Standards for Petroleum Industry in Nigeria (EGSPIN), to ensure constant surveillance. Also, there should be the provision for social and health impact assessment as an integral part of the overall environmental impact assessment (EIA) process for all new oil and gas facilities and upgrades to existing facilities in line with international best practice. This means that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act should be amended to accommodate these changes. It also proposes that there should be a review of the provisions of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency NOSDRA (Establishment) Act, 2006 against NOSDRA’s current operational responsibilities. Oversight of clean-up should be given to a separate governmental department.