The negative impacts
of projects in the Niger Delta have been blamed on lack of proper attention to Environmental Impact Assessment studies on projects in the region.
The Head of Department Institute of Pollution Studies Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST) Port Harcourt, Dr Tubonimi Ideriah who said this in an interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt said that most communities did not study the contents of Environmental Impact Assessment Reports, even when such reports are displayed in their areas.
He also criticised local government councils for failing to take note of EIA reports in their viccinities, noting that councils need to have standing committees in their respective areas to evaluate every report as it concerns projects in their areas.
Meanwhile, the university don has blamed the prevalence of cancer and other diseases in the Niger Delta on pollution.
He said that some pollutants are cancerous.
“These days certain diseases are becoming prevalent.  These are caused by some of the particles polluting the environment.  “The environment is polluted because some level of pollutants exceeded their limits.
“These are dangerous to lives of organizations, both acquatic lives and others” he said.
Dr Ideriah said that once the environment was polluted the entire ecosystem will be affected and these can lead to the deaths of organisms living in such environment.
He stressed the need for the continuous monitoring of the environment with the view to ascertaining the level of pollution, adding that the institute of pollution studies have produced series of reports on the monitoring of pollution in the region.