Niger Delta
NGO Tasks Mobil On Oil Spill
The Akwa Central Oil Spill and Environmental Watch, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), based in Eket, Akwa Ibom, has urged Mobil Producing Nigeria to improve on its oil spill contingency plans.
Mr Martins Ettang, Secretary of the organisation told newsmen in Eket that the oil firm’s response time to spill incidents was quite slow.
Ettang said that it usually took the oil company more than two weeks to commence clean-up of oil spill sites.
He said that such a situation often worsened the negative impact of the crude deposits on the environment.
The NGO secretary said, “Mobil delays too much in responding to spill incidents especially as it concerns clean up.
“The company’s procrastination often worsened the pollution of the environment and exposed the host communities to hazards.
“In the controversial spill of March 2010, which the oil firms in the area denied responsibility, Mobil was hesitant to clean the site until a sanction became imminent.’’
With Mobil’s alleged attitude towards spills, Ettang wondered what would happen “if a spill of the magnitude of the one in Gulf of Mexico happens here”.
He urged the Federal Government to learn from the Gulf of Mexico experience, and said that it should Mobil accountable for its oil spills in the country.
According to him, if the U.S held BP responsible for the pollution it caused to its shoreline, Mobil, an American company, should not be allowed to get away with polluting our shoreline.