Odahiekwu Ogunde, Yenagoa
Some residents of the Ikarama community, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, have lamented the adverse impact of an oil leakage from a nearby oilfield in their area.
They are seeking remediation of the oil pollution from the April 7, 2021 leak from Shell Petroleum Development Company’s 14-inch Okordia-Rumuekpe pipeline discharged the crude into the ecosystem.
The Okordia-Rumuekpe crude trunkline is part of the Trans Niger Pipeline operated by the SPDC to convey crude oil to its crude export terminal at Bonny in Rivers State.
A Joint Investigation Visit report indicated that the spill was traced to equipment failure which emanated from a rupture on the 14-inch crude delivery line.
JIV is a statutory probe into the cause of any recorded spill involving the oil firm, regulators, host communities and state ministries of environment.
The JIV report indicated that some 213 barrels which had no impact on the environment outside SPDC’s right of way leaked from its asset, while approximately 110 barrels polluted 1.34 hectares of land.
Residents living near the spill impacted site claimed that they had suffered much hardship from the pollution which had negatively impacted the land, air and lakes near the area due to the evaporation of the spilt crude by the sun.
One of the workers at the Ikarama oilfields, Mr Education Ikiowori, who allegedly witnessed the JIV, claimed the spill was due to corrosion.
He said the oil major and the regulators had visited and they excavated a place in search of the cause of the spill.
Ikiowori claimed: “They all saw that the rupture was caused by corrosion, yet the oil company disagreed
“But for this one, thank God that it was very obvious it was equipment failure as the government representatives and regulators and all those who were here confirmed it.”
An indigene of the area, Chief Washington Odoyibo, claimed that residents had been experiencing the antics of Shell attributing every spill incident to sabotage times without number.
Odoyibo claimed: “When the spill occurred at this place in November 2019 during the flood, Shell came here and said it was due to sabotage.
“This pipeline is over 40 years; I was a child when they laid this pipe here, but they refused to replace it and it is failing every now and then.”
The community leader also dismissed the claim by Shell that some 213 barrels had no impact on the environment and wondered if the environment, where the 213 barrels of crude leaked into, was isolated from the area.
He explained that due to the high intensity of the sun, the leaked crude evaporates into the air and causes a choking sensation that triggers cough and respiratory difficulties among the people.
He said the people of Ikarama were in dire need of medical intervention following the pollution of air, water and land as well as relief materials.
He added: “When our people inhale this crude oil, in a short while one can come down with a cough. This crude oil can give different kinds of sickness; cough, running nose and so on.
“So, this spill is affecting us. Besides that, if we go inside our swamps here; you will see different kinds of dead fishes because of the incident. Fish ponds have also been destroyed.’’
SPDC’s Media Relations Manager, Mr Bamidele Odugbesan, who confirmed the incident, promised to issue a statement on it and the steps taken to mitigate the pollution.