Oil spill reporting: The issues
In April 2020, the fishing shores of Akwa Ibom State especially Eastern Obolo recorded high number of dead fishes. This was also experienced in other part of Niger Delta between February and May 2020.
Although there is no definitive statement from government about what killed the fishes and what actions have been taken to avoid repeat of such occurrences, there are serious suspicions that these schools of fishes died from water pollution caused by unreported oil spill.
The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) reports that there were 1,300 oil spills in the Niger Delta between 2018 or 2019. Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) says that there could be an average of five oil spills a day in the Niger Delta.
There are numerous impact of oil spill. It includes health hazard, deprivation of means of livelihood, threat to sustainability of aquatic environment among other damages. Despite these concerns, oil spill has been a common phenomenon in the region.
History of Oil Spill in Niger Delta
A United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP) report indicates that there have been a total of 6,817 oil spills between 1976 and 2001, which accounts for a loss of three million barrels of oil of which more than 70 per cent was not recovered. 69 per cent of these spills occurred off-shore, a greater was in swamps and 6 per cent spilled on land.
The first major oil spillage in Nigeria occurred in 1970 in the Niger Delta region of the Country. The most damaged region was Ogoniland. Nigerian Officials reported that gallons of crude oil spilled on river and farmland. Yet, Akwa Ibom State appears to be one of the worse hit states in oil spill.
History of oil spill in Akwa Ibom
The outstanding owners and operators of oil spill facilities in Akwa Ibom State are Shell Petroleum Development Company and Mobil Producing Nigeria (ExxonMobil)..
Records show that the first oil spill took place at Ikot Ada Udo in Ikot Abasi Local government area in 1997. This was caused by the operations of Shell Petroleum Development Company.
The exploration of crude oil by SPDC dates back to the early 1950s where a landmark of oil facilities up to 420 corked and uncorked oil wells were laid across the state.
According to Akwa Ibom Oil Producing Community Development Network (AKIPCON), the SPDC Ibibio/oil well facility, located at Ikot Ada Udo often explode with its attendant outburst of crude oil into the environment sipping into the soil and transported to a larger area by underground water.
AKIPCON notes that this routine spill was stopped by SPDC in November 2007 under the watchful eyes of NOSDRA, other agencies and the public.
Yet, AKIPCON President-General, Dr Ufot Phenson adds that SPDC did a shabby remediation and did not pay any form of compensation to the victims.
He reports that till date, the negative effect of that spill is still being felt in the area, as this position is informed by the Environmental Monitoring and Mitigation Report (EMMR) of the Ibibio oil well spill site.
Phenson adds “The EMMR was sponsored by AKIPCON in June 2015. The spill also affected the adjoining communities of Ukpom Minya clan in Mkpat Enin L.G.A, Ikpa Nung Assang in Ikot Abasi L.G.A and Abak Midim clan of Oruk Anam L.G.A. The affected victims here, are still waiting for compensation from SPDC.”
AKIPCON helmsman mentions that Uruan was not spared of the undesirable impact of SPDC operations as their facility exploded in Anakpa-Uruan L.G.A killing two Children.
Phenson says as common in their operations, SPDC never remediated the environment nor pay any form of compensation till date. He however notes that these cases are before the National Human Right Commission (NHRC).
He points out that the largest oil spill by SPDC is that which occurred in 2011 where about 40,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into the Atlantic Ocean from SPDC Bonga platform.
Some recorded major oil spills of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) according to AKIPCON are:
June 29, 2014, December 15, 2014, 25th -27th November, 2015, 22nd April, 2016, February 28, 2015, March 4, 2015, March 10, 2015, March 12, 2015, April 27, 2015, April 22, 2016.
The negatively impacted communities by incessant MPNU oil spills are Ibeno, Esit Eket, Eket and Onna Local Government Areas. Others are, Oron, Mbo among other coastal Local Government Areas in the State.
Interestingly, AKIPCON President notes that oil spills in Akwa Ibom State are not caused by acts of vandalization rather equipment failures and negligence on the part of the operators.
He explains that continuous use of expired oil pipelines that were installed in the early 1970 and due for replacement since 1995 possess a serious problem.
Phenson adds “whereas the life span of the pipe was 25 years, these outdated pipes cannot withstand the pressure of crude oil any longer, hence frequent oil spills from EXXON Mobil and SPDC facilities.” Yet, there are regulations against oil spill.
Environmental Regulations Applicable in the Petroleum Industry
An Associate Professor of Environmental Pollution and Toxicology, University of Calabar, Dr Udeme Udofia identifies legislative framework put in place to discourage oil spill in Nigeria to include: Minerals Oils (Safety) Regulations of 1963 as amended in 1997, Oil in Navigable Waters Act/Regulations, 1968, Petroleum (Drilling and Production) Regulations, 1969 and Environmental Guidelines and Standards for Petroleum Industry in Nigeria (EGASPIN) 1991 revised in 2002.
Others are: Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Act No 86 of 1992 now EIA CAP E12 LFN 2004, Oil Pipeline Act and the Oil & Gas Pipeline Regulations 1995 and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) Act No 15 of 2006. Yet, what consequences await operators in the oil industries when they fail to adhere to relevant environmental regulations?
Consequences of Breach of Regulations
Udofia mentions that under the Oil in Navigable Waters Act, it is a finable offence for any person to discharge oil from a ship. He says it is also a criminal offence, punishable by life imprisonment under the Harmful Wastes (Special Criminal Provisions) Act, for any person to dump harmful waste in Nigerian territory.
According to the Environmental Pollution and Toxicology expert, any device used to commit the offense will also be forfeited to the Government where the offence is committed by a corporate body while its officers could be found severely guilty of the offence.
He states that any party that fails to comply with the provisions of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act is liable on conviction to: a fine of N100,000 or five years imprisonment in the case of an individual; and a fine of between N500,000 and N1,000,000 in the case of corporation.
What is more, Udofia explains that under the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency Act, a party that fails to report an oil spillage to the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency within 24 hours is liable to a daily penalty of N500,000. He says failure to clean up the impacted site can result in a penalty of N1,000,000.
The Toxicology expert adds “Minister of Petroleum has powers to revoke an authorization for failure to comply with applicable laws, including environmental regulations.
“The EGASPIN also imposes fines for various environmental infractions and the obligation to pay compensation to affected persons and remediate any environmental damage.”
He points out that in addition to applicable Federal Legislation, a number of Nigerian States have enacted environmental laws that impose penalties on erring operators.
Udofia notes that Nigerian courts have also awarded special, exemplary and general damages in actions arising from environmental pollution adding that these actions are brought under the common law principle of the torts of nuisance, trespass, negligence and strict liability. Nevertheless, laws does not serve as the last bus stop towards the solution. The regulators have a very important role to play.
Regulator’s Perspective
The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) is an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria by an Act of Parliament with the Statutory responsibility of preparedness, detection and response to all oil spill in Nigeria.
NOSDRA was established in 2006 as an institutional framework to coordinate the implementation of the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan ( NOSCP) for Nigeria in accordance with international convention on Oil Pollution, Preparedness, Response and Cooperation (OPPRC 90) to which Nigeria is a signatory.
According to NOSDRA Establishment Act 2006, No 15, Section 19, (1)e and Section 19 (2), in the event of a major or disastrous spill, the Act provides for NOSDRA to assist in mediating between affected communities and the oil spiller. They also play the role of the Lead Agency for all matters relating to oil spill response management.
According to Senior Environmental Scientist of NOSDRA, Itoroobong Edet, NOSDRA understands that oil spill is inevitable in oil and gas production.
He notes that the concern of all stakeholders (operators, host communities and regulators) is how to manage the spills without it having a devastating effect on the environment.
Edet says to achieve this, operators are expected to have an Oil Spill Contingency Plan.
The Environmental Scientist however notes that there is suspicion among stakeholders on how oil spills are managed.
He says “The regulators believe operators are not sincere in declaring the volume of oil spilled. They also suspect that operators do not report spills promptly to facilitate early investigation.
“The regulators equally suspect the operators delayed reporting of oil spills in other to buy time to degrade the spill before reporting.”
There is also suspicion on the part of communities. Edet notes that the communities believe there is a conspiracy and connivance between the regulators and the operators to shortchange them from being compensated by: under-declaring the volume of oil spilled, not making public the report of investigation carried out and failure to remediate the environment. With all the suspicions and fears, what then is the way forward, you may wonder.
Way forward
To address these differences and suspicion, stakeholders drawn from oil producing communities in Akwa Ibom State, oil companies and regulatory agencies, the academia and Civil Society organizations met in the oil city of Eket, on Friday, 18th September 2020 to express their challenges and to collectively proffer solutions that would foster a harmonious relationship amongst all stakeholders.
Policy Alert a non-governmental organization working to promote social, economic and ecological justice in the Niger Delta, recommended that oil companies must embrace the standard of disaggregated reporting on oil spills at project and community level to ensure that oil spill data is directly associated with the projects from which they occur.
According to the Executive Director of the Organization, Tijah-Bolton Akpan, contracts and environmental impact assessments should be transparent and involve the communities and these should happen before oil and gas projects commence.
He added “We are concerned about environmental risks associated with oil infrastructure after the lifespan of the project.
” Greater attention should therefore be paid to post-decommissioning environmental issues, especially in light of growing trend by majors to divest their investments and liabilities on marginal players.”
Akpan posited that a sustainable fiscal and regulatory framework should be put in place to govern the entire oil and gas sector. He stressed that the current uncertainty related to the Petroleum Industry Bill and it’s Host Community component is a huge disservice to communities bearing the impact of oil spills.
Additionally, in a Communiqué issued by the stakeholders, it was resolved that there is need for robust confidence building among stakeholders.
Stakeholders resolved that Government should bring laudable projects to the communities to help mitigate the impact of oil spills on the communities.
Stakeholders agreed that NOSDRA should engage community stakeholders, by setting up liaison offices in the oil producing communities to get real time information.
They resolved that regulators should be well funded to enable them carry out independent investigations and that NOSDRA should train community representatives on how to report oil spills.
The stakeholders said there is urgent need for regulators to have Desk Officers in the Oil and Gas Companies.
They added “To ensure transparency and Accountability, oil spill reporting should be prompt, and all stakeholders should have access to adequate information on oil spills and the results of investigation published.
“The EIA Act, has provision for communities to access information and seek redress on areas their interests were not captured.
“Adequate and comprehensive consultation should be carried out by operators or their consultants during the EIA process. Regulators should endeavour to penalize defaulters.”
As challenges and solutions that revolves around oil spill have been laid bare, it is the hope of many that relevant stakeholders and authorities will put words to work thus achieve transparency and accountability in oil reporting.
