The cleanup of oil spills in Bayelsa State, located in South-south Nigeria, will cost $12 billion to accomplish. This was according to a new report released by the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission, which started investigating the effects of oil spills in the state in 2019. The report showed that two oil companies, namely Shell Petroleum Development Company and Eni, are responsible for polluting the state.
The commission analysed evidence from oil companies’ data and forensic scientists while examining blood samples from residents who live in areas affected by oil spills. The findings showed that airborne, soil, and water pollutants from oil spills and gas flaring exceeded safe limits by several times in samples, including local residents’ blood.
According to the report, the cleanup exercise would last for 12 years. It also revealed that the oil firms involved in the spills had failed to prevent, respond, and remediate pollution in the state.
A spokesperson for Shell declined to comment, while Eni blamed the spills on theft aimed at feeding illegal refineries, illegal export, and sabotage and undertook to deal with all spills. Eni added that it operates according to international environmental best practices, irrespective of the country.
Several oil-rich Niger Delta states, such as Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom, and Bayelsa, have suffered oil spillage, which has adversely impacted farmlands and aquatic lives.
In 2016, the federal government launched the cleanup of polluted Ogoni land located in neighboring Rivers State, five years after the United Nations Environmental Programme’s 2011 report recommended the action. The cleanup project in Ogoni land suffered several years of delay, which the Minister for Environment, Mohammed Abduallahi, attributed to civil society organisations and individuals from the state. The Federal Executive Council recently approved N129.8 billion (approximately $330 million) for the cleanup and other Niger Delta Ministry projects.
