Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited has dismissed allegations of clean-up abandonment in Ikarama community, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
Recall that members of Ikarama community, as well as the Environmental Rights Action had urged SPDC to return to Ikarama and carry out proper clean up of the environment, after its spill incident in the area in July 2007.
The Environmental Rights Action had charged the Bayelsa State Government to take legal actions on behalf of Ikarama community, to ensure all pollution caused by the SPDC’s facilities in the state, were properly cleaned up and remediated.
ERA/FoEN had raised the alarm over non cleaning-up of polluted sites in Ikarama after a blowout from SPDC’s Okordia manifold in the area since July 22nd 2007, which over 50barrels of crude was spilt into the environment as confirmed by NOSDRA in the JIV report.
Project Officer and Head, Niger Delta Resource Centre, ERA, Mr Morris Alagoa, said although Shell carried out recovery and scooping of some of the oil, but actual cleanup has not been done till date, while urging NOSDRA to prevail on SPDC to return to the impacted sites for proper remediation.
Reacting to the allegations, the management of SPDC said the company carried out a remediation on the site which was certified by the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency in 2010.
Spokesperson for SPDC, Mr Michael Adande, said NOSDRA had certified that the Dutch multinational satisfactorily carried out clean up, remediation and restoration of the site.
“After the government regulator-led Joint Investigation Visit to the site of the spill, which occurred on July 22, 2007 at the Okordia Manifold, SPDC duly recovered spilled oil and remediated the site.
“In line with industry practice, the site was certified by government regulators on January 22, 2010, the NOSDRA certificate issued on February 22, 2011 was signed off on March 2, 2011.
“The certificate noted that SPDC had ‘satisfactorily carried out clean up, remediation and restoration to the best practical extent’.”
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