Post by Wes Gear on Aug 5, 2011 17:20:44 GMT 10
Nigeria's Ogoniland oil clean-up 'may take decades, cost billions'
DECADES of oil pollution in Nigeria's Ogoniland region may require the world's biggest ever cleanup, a UN agency said as it released a landmark report on the issue.
"The environmental restoration of Ogoniland could prove to be the world's most wide-ranging and long term oil clean-up exercise ever undertaken if contaminated drinking water, land, creeks and important ecosystems such as mangroves are to be brought back to full, productive health," the UN Environment Program said in a statement.
The study of the effects of pollution in Ogoniland, part of the Niger Delta, the country's main oil-producing region, follows a two-year assessment by the United Nations Environment Program.
The study concluded that clean-up efforts may take up to 30 years and will require a restoration fund of at least $1 billion funded by the oil industry and government.
Its report, which was commissioned by the Nigerian Government and funded by Royal Dutch Shell, marks the first major attempt to scientifically document the effects of oil pollution in the region of mainly farmers and fishermen, which activists say has been devastated by spills.
UNEP called the assessment "unprecedented."
The report documents major health risks in the region of Africa's largest oil producer.
"In at least 10 Ogoni communities where drinking water is contaminated with high levels of hydrocarbons, public health is seriously threatened," the UNEP statement said.
"In one community, at Nisisioken Ogale, in western Ogoniland, families are drinking water from wells that is contaminated with benzene - a known carcinogen - at levels over 900 times above World Health Organisation guidelines.
"The site is close to a Nigerian National Petroleum Company pipeline."
Shell's local joint venture said it will "study the contents [of the report] carefully and will comment further once we have done so," according to Dow Jones.
Shell said that in the last five years, 75 percent of oil spills in the region have been caused by "third-party interference" like sabotage and theft.
However, Human rights group Amnesty international said the report's findings were an objective, peer-reviewed confirmation of the long-term damage caused to the region by oil contamination, Dow Jones reports.
"This report proves Shell has had a terrible impact in Nigeria, but has got away with denying it for decades, falsely claiming they work to best international standards," said Amnesty International Global Issues Director Audrey Gaughran.
Ogoniland was the native region of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the renowned environmental activist who was executed by the then-military government in 1995 after what was widely considered a show trial, drawing global condemnation.
His activism and execution drew the world's attention to Ogoniland.
Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell, Nigeria's oldest and historically its largest operator, was forced to leave Ogoniland in 1993 following community unrest sparked by poverty and allegations of environmental neglect.
Read more: www.news.com.au/world/nigerian-oil-clean-up-may-take-decades-and-cost-billions/story-e6frfkyi-1226108757658#ixzz1U8XUQIkN
DECADES of oil pollution in Nigeria's Ogoniland region may require the world's biggest ever cleanup, a UN agency said as it released a landmark report on the issue.
"The environmental restoration of Ogoniland could prove to be the world's most wide-ranging and long term oil clean-up exercise ever undertaken if contaminated drinking water, land, creeks and important ecosystems such as mangroves are to be brought back to full, productive health," the UN Environment Program said in a statement.
The study of the effects of pollution in Ogoniland, part of the Niger Delta, the country's main oil-producing region, follows a two-year assessment by the United Nations Environment Program.
The study concluded that clean-up efforts may take up to 30 years and will require a restoration fund of at least $1 billion funded by the oil industry and government.
Its report, which was commissioned by the Nigerian Government and funded by Royal Dutch Shell, marks the first major attempt to scientifically document the effects of oil pollution in the region of mainly farmers and fishermen, which activists say has been devastated by spills.
UNEP called the assessment "unprecedented."
The report documents major health risks in the region of Africa's largest oil producer.
"In at least 10 Ogoni communities where drinking water is contaminated with high levels of hydrocarbons, public health is seriously threatened," the UNEP statement said.
"In one community, at Nisisioken Ogale, in western Ogoniland, families are drinking water from wells that is contaminated with benzene - a known carcinogen - at levels over 900 times above World Health Organisation guidelines.
"The site is close to a Nigerian National Petroleum Company pipeline."
Shell's local joint venture said it will "study the contents [of the report] carefully and will comment further once we have done so," according to Dow Jones.
Shell said that in the last five years, 75 percent of oil spills in the region have been caused by "third-party interference" like sabotage and theft.
However, Human rights group Amnesty international said the report's findings were an objective, peer-reviewed confirmation of the long-term damage caused to the region by oil contamination, Dow Jones reports.
"This report proves Shell has had a terrible impact in Nigeria, but has got away with denying it for decades, falsely claiming they work to best international standards," said Amnesty International Global Issues Director Audrey Gaughran.
Ogoniland was the native region of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the renowned environmental activist who was executed by the then-military government in 1995 after what was widely considered a show trial, drawing global condemnation.
His activism and execution drew the world's attention to Ogoniland.
Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell, Nigeria's oldest and historically its largest operator, was forced to leave Ogoniland in 1993 following community unrest sparked by poverty and allegations of environmental neglect.
Read more: www.news.com.au/world/nigerian-oil-clean-up-may-take-decades-and-cost-billions/story-e6frfkyi-1226108757658#ixzz1U8XUQIkN