The National Oil Spill Response, Detection and Regulatory Agency, (NOSDRA) says modalities have been put in place to clean the pipeline explosion site at Komkom Community in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Port Harcourt Zonal Head of NOSDRA, Cyrus Nkagwon, disclosed this while speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt at the weekend.
He said, NOSDRA and other key stakeholders like the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had visited the site of the explosion for assessment, especially to assess the effects of the explosion on the environment and to map out the area of impact.
The NOSDRA boss said, “we have visited the site of the explosion for a thorough assessment of the level of damage of the explosion on the environment; our investigation will also determine the level of hydrocarbon still remaining by taking samples for analysis. We have also concluded plans for the clean up of the environment and we have reached an agreement with the company that carry out the clean up which is billed to commence in a couple of weeks.”
Nkagwon  said specimens from the explosion site have been scooped to ascertain the nature of substance that was spilled so as to work towards the restoration of aquatic life and revegetation of the area.
Meanwhile, some residents and indigenes of Komkom Community have appealed to relevant agencies to come to their aid by ensuring that the explosion site is properly remediated.
Some of the residents of the community who spoke with The Tide, called for timely intervention especially in the replacement of old oil pipeline to save the community from further problems.
The residents also urged the Federal Government to engage the community members in the surveillance of the oil pipelines.
It would be recalled that dozens of people died in the pipeline explosion at Komkom Community recently.