An oil spillage has been reported in K-Dere community, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre, YEAC-Nigeria, through its Crude Oil Spill Alert System (COSAS), reported that the spillage happened on January 3, 2024, on the PPMC pipeline pumping crude to the Port Harcourt Refinery.
While the community blamed equipment failure for the spillage, the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, has yet to conduct a Joint Investigation Visit, JIV.
The spill reportedly occurred on a ruptured part of the pipeline that spilt crude into the environment in the community about 17 years ago and was repaired but not clamped.
According to YEAC-Nigeria, the K-Dere community has stopped the PPMC from fixing the spill point, pending a JIV by NOSDRA.
It added that the company has temporarily stopped the spill with a cement barricade to enable it to continue the transportation of crude needed for the test run of the Port Harcourt refinery, pending when requirements are met and expected permanent repairs are done on the spill point.
The Executive Director of YEAC-Nigeria, Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, in a statement, called on NOSDRA to “immediately carry out JIV on the facility to determine the cause of the spill and invoke relevant sections of the Petroleum Industry Act (2021) in the circumstances.”
