Chief Alagoa Morris, a renowned environmentalist, has said that the Feb. 16, oil leak from Shell’s pipeline in Southern Ijaw LGA of Bayelsa has raised the Obololi River toxicity level, leading to fish deaths.
Morris told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday – earlier today, March 5 – in Yenagoa that the pollution caused by the leak is massive and affected the area’s biodiversity in a negative way.
Morris, who is also the Technical Adviser to the Bayelsa Governor on Environment, said a team he led on field trip to the impacted areas showed empirical evidence of abnormal toxicity of the waters.
“I led a team to the spill site and witnessed oil industry induced pollution first hand and the evidence of pollution starred us in the face.
“We saw a lot of dead fishes, from the pungent smell of crude everywhere, the respiratory health of the community people are in jeopardy in addition to the water pollution,” he said, explaining the spill has adversely affected the predominantly fishing and farming occupation of the Obololi people.
The National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) traced the source of the leak to a 16-inch Nun River-Kolo Creek underwater pipeline operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).
Sources from the Obololi community said that recovery of spilled crude into plastic tanks is ongoing, even as the SPDC, through Mr Michael Adande, a Spokesman for oil company, assured it has shut oil feeds into the leaking pipeline.
Adande pledged to update on relief, remediation and Response efforts but was yet to do so as at the time of this report.
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