Dead fishes on shore: NOSDRA must probe pollution of Coastline, lockdown or no lockdown – Environmentalist

Mr Iniruo Wills, ex-Environment Commissioner in Bayelsa State, on Thursday called on oil industry regulators to prioritize investigation of increased toxicity of the Atlantic coastline that has been causing massive death of fishes.

Wills made the call in an interview in Yenagoa in reaction to dead fishes littering the coastline across Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states.

Wills, who is also an environmental rights crusader, noted that continual massive death of fishes within Nigerian territorial waters for the past one month was an indication of severe underlying factors from nearby oil installations.

He said that the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) should as a matter of urgency swing into action to trace the source of the pollution despite the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic to safeguard public health.

According to him, the oil and gas sector was categorized as essential services by the government and therefore exempt from the COVID-19 induced lockdown as oil production and export was not shut down.

Mr Idris Musa, the Director-General, NOSDRA had said the spill agency would mobilize personnel and resources to commence an investigation as soon as the lockdown for the COVID-19 is lifted.

But Wills insists that the spill agency ought to brace up in pursuit of its regulatory mandate to ensure that Health, Safety and Environment standards were not compromised by operators, lockdown or no lockdown.

“ I do not want to say NOSDRA is giving a lazy man’s excuse, but I am astonished.

“If oil production is considered as part of essential services such as to grant Caverton, a private aviation support service for the oil industry approval to fly, how much more NOSDRA that is an FGN agency for oil pollution control?

“In any case, there are restrictions on gatherings in Bayelsa State where this hydrocarbon ecological virus is causing havoc on our communities, but no lockdown here so there is no excuse as NOSDRA officials are domiciled here.

“Are NOSDRA and the federal and state governments waiting for another epidemic to break out from our coastal communities before they start to play fire brigade?

“They need to move NOW, immediately, to avert the looming disaster from the Atlantic coast of the Niger Delta,” Wills said.

Chevron, First Exploration and Production, Consolidated Oil all operate platforms in the shallow offshore oilfields off Bayelsa coast, while Shell, Agip and Aiteo operate onshore fields in the swamps of Bayelsa.

Chevron Nigeria, an affiliate of U.S. energy firm which operates oilfields near the coastline, responding to a request for reaction across operators denied that there were leaks from its facilities in the area.

Mr Esimaje Brikinn, the General Manager in charge of Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Chevron Nigeria Ltd., denied any links between the alleged pollution and the operations of their oil firm.

“CNL and Star Deep confirm that there has not been any chemical release from any of our facilities,” Chevron stated.

First Exploration and Production, an indigenous oil firm which acquired Oil Mining Leases 83 and 85 when Chevron divested in 2015 from Ayala and Madu fields have been conducting drilling campaigns to bring the fields to production and declined comments on the impact of ongoing oil exploration activities on its operational area and adjourning Atlantic coastline settlements.