Another Agip Oil Spill Hits Kalaba Community

Another oil spillage has been reported in Kalaba, a riverine community in Okordia clan, of Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

This is the second time in this year the community will be witnessing serious oil pollution in their environment, the first one happened around January.

The leaking pipes which belong to Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) occurred at Anukudaba swam has further improvised the mainly farm and fishing community which had been suffering oil spillage at random in the fast five years.

Conducting news men and officials of Environment Rights/Friends of Earth, a non-governmental group, round the polluted sites, the Community’s Development Chairman, Mr. Roman Orukari, said the incident was noticed by some fishermen and reported to the community.

Consequently, the report was communicated to officials of NAOC, but for the first three days, the spillage occurred, none of the officials of the company has visited the site.

He claimed that because of the rising level of water as a result of the raining season, the spillage is fast extending to other areas, saying that already, the community has suffered great loss in their fishing prowess and the food crops have been affected adversly.

The Paramount Ruler of the community, Chief Idoniboye Awalia, said since the laying of pipelines by Agip, the community has suffered over 30 spillages, calling on government and other relevant authorities to compel the Italian Oil giant to do something about it.

Chief Nwalia, however expressed gratitude to officials of  ERA for bringing their sufferings to limelight, saying that without their frequent reports about the hazards confronting the community would have been worst as government doesn’t  know the atrocity of the oil companies exploiting crude oil in the area.

Speaking to journalists later, the ERA representative in Bayelsa, Mr. Morris Alagoa said although the information of fresh spill in Kalaba community environment didn’t come to ERA as an entirely strange phenomenon, ERA was surprised that the current spill points were up to five.

Although the ERA’s team confirmed four points, after visiting three of the spill sites along the pipeline, a fourth one was heard further away with a high pitch sound, in the direction toward the Agip Taylor Creek Well 1 and further away from the community.

“While the third spill point was from the side of an exposed 6 inches pipe on the ground and spraying crude oil seriously into the air], the first two points were spewing crude oil from areas submerged in water; swampy sections of the pipeline owing to the rains,” it was learnt.

“Thick crude oil slick has spread in the surrounding swamps. Due to the swampy nature of the environment [water everywhere], it was not easy to see the entire area covered by the crude oil or make an estimate as per spread. But it was obvious that the volume of crude oil spewed is high, even as it continued as the ERA team was leaving.

Another observation was the fact that the impact on trees, shrubs and other plants around the spill sites is grave as they display wilting leaves and different stages of dying off.

Even the birds on tree tops are not spared as the escaping crude oil in gaseous form comes with a characteristic sound and rises far above the trees and spread all around the environment; presenting a kind of misty scenario that impedes visibility.

“This may influence forced migration of birds or death of young ones and abandonment of eggs in nest; besides affecting the respiratory tract of indigenes who inhale same. And, for sure,