ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
An oil major, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), says it has begun an investigation of a report of an oil spill from its facility at Ogboinbiri in the Peramabiri community of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
Oil spillage on August 24, 2022, at Diebu Creek flow station operated by the SPDC reportedly discharged yet-to-be ascertained volumes of crude oil into the community’s environment.
The people of the Peremabiri community lamented the adverse impact of the spill as well as the alleged insensitivity and neglect by the oil major.
The people regretted that the delay in response to the spill by SPDC had led to damage to the land, environment and impacted a wider area.
SPDC in a statement on Monday by its spokesman, Mr Mike Adande, confirmed that the oil firm received the spill report.
Adande said: “We are working with regulators and the local community to investigate the reported incident. The Diebu Creek stopped injection into the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) in mid-June 2022 owing to constant breaches of the TNP by crude oil thieves.
“The TNP is currently undergoing tests with water main flushing.”
Residents of the community had indicated that the discharge of large volumes of crude oil into the environment had polluted the Nun River, swamps, and farmlands, thereby causing untold hardship to the predominantly fishing and farming settlement.
The Chairman, Peremabiri Community Development Committee (CDC), Mr Return Koma, in a telephone interview on Monday said that officials of SPDC had convened a Joint Investigative Visit (JIV) to the flow station and impacted site.
“They called to say that they are coming for a JIV on Tuesday and shortly they shifted it to today being Monday, so we are waiting,” Koma said.
Koma explained that the JIV report would reveal the cause of the spill, estimated volumes of the spill, and the impacted area.