Eugene Upah|19 October 2017
Over 500,000 underground and above ground storage tanks in Nigeria contain petroleum or hazardous substances regulated by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA).
Many of these storage tanks have leaked or are currently leaking. Releases from storage tanks – from spills, overfills, and poor poly vinyl piping can cause fires or explosions that threaten human safety. Releases from these storage tanks can also contaminate the groundwater that many Nigerians depend on for consumption.
In fact, dissolved and free floating petroleum products have been discovered in drinking water wells all over Nigeria today. The release of petroleum products from these tanks constitutes the greatest source of groundwater contamination and threat to the long-term health and safety of Nigerians. Petroleum contaminated water is the silent killer that must be recognized and dealt with for the health and safety of all Nigerians; yet many Nigerians have very little or no knowledge about it and we are not giving the issue the prominence and attention it deserves.
Properly managed, petroleum storage tanks and pipeline releases will not threaten our health, environment and agricultural products like what is obtainable in Nigeria’s Southern region of Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Delta.
The federal government, together with other state environmental protection agencies must as a matter of national interest, mandate oil and gas tappers and other stakeholders in the oil and gas exploration industry to offer routine palliatives to the inhabitants of the regulated communities on how to prevent, detect and correct problems created by releases from oil spillage and storage tanks. They must design strategies for the assessment, cleanup and remediation of petroleum contamination from storage tanks and catastrophic pipeline releases in these oil producing areas, enforce rapid identification of environmental hazards and their possible health risks, establish an organizational culture and commitment to safety of lives and the environment, partner host Communities to protect pipelines and the environment – education/incentives amongst others.
Eugene Upah
Is a Social Commentator
