47 years of Pollution; Bayelsa community angry, laments neglect

The people of Twon Brass, Brass Local Government, Bayelsa State, are angry. They are picking grudges with the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), over its alleged non-compliance with extant laws and guidelines on oil and gas pollution and environmental assessment in the company’s operations at the Brass terminal. Investigations revealed that the chiefs and leaders of the community have run out of patience and are making consultations on their line of action since legitimate efforts to make the oil company see reason have not yielded good results.

“Twon Brass has continuously suffered an onslaught of liquid, gaseous, solid and noise pollution from your company’s operation since 1973. It would be premature to pin point which of the three pollutants has impacted negatively on the flora and fauna in the community but the most obvious are oil gas pollution. “The council is similar with the provisions in the Petroleum Act, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency Act (NOSDRA) as amended, guidelines and the Environmental and Standards for the Petroleum in Nigeria 2018 on oil Spills and pollution by Oil Companies, the Twon Brass Export Terminal has since the inception of your operations in 1973 borne brunt of the value chain of oil export namely, separation of crude your flow stations and facilities, dumping of waste water after separation into pits at the Brass Terminal, discharge of the untreated waste or sludge into Agip canal and emission or discharged of unused gas in liquid and gaseous forms in the Twon Brass Terminal.”

…An official of Agip said some of the issues alleged by the chiefs are not true because the company has a good relationship with its host communities: He said ”NAOC denies all the allegations brought forward in the letter. As in all communities where it operates across the Niger Delta, the company is in constructive contact with the community’s leadership. The company is working with the community its legitimate legal representatives and regulators to address issues of mutual concern to the parties including environmental issues.”