NOSDRA recommended compensation for victims of oil leak in Bayelsa D-G

The National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) says it has recommended to Shell, payment of compensation to the victims of Seibou oil spill in Bayelsa even as the company flouted the regulatory advice without any sanctions..

Dr Peter Idabor, Director-General of the agency said in Yenagoa on Wednesday that NOSDRA participated in the cleanup of the oil spill.

He said that 549 barrels of crude was discharged into Ogboinbiri River in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa.

Idabor said that contrary to the rebuttal of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of the magnitude of the spill, the agency discovered that it adversely affected the environment and residents.

“Our assessment of the Seibou Well 2 facility leak of Jan. 23, 2015 at Ogboinbiri, Bayelsa confirmed that the cause of leak was equipment failure.

“The assessment showed that the volume of crude discharged was 549 barrels.

“The joint investigation visit was conducted on Feb. 10, 2015 by NOSDRA officials from our Warri office while our Port Harcourt office did the assessment and recommended for compensation based on the impact of the spill.

“There is no status report on the compensation,” Idabor said.

NOSDRA was reacting to the oil leak because of claims by Shell, operator of the Ogboinbiri oil fields, that the incident did not warrant compensation.

SPDC had also on March 5, 2015, confirmed that an oil leak from its underwater line within its oil fields in Ogboinbiri, discharged some 550 barrels of crude into Ogboinbiri River on Jan. 23, 2015.

Two years after the underwater oil leak in the Ogboinbiri River, SPDC said in a statement on Jan. 25, that the incident had no adverse impact to warrant compensation.

Mr Joseph Obari, SPDC Spokesperson, had saidv that Seibou 2 oil spill, which occurred on Jan. 23, 2015, was adequately contained within SPDC’s right of way and cleaned up.

“The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) had issued a certificate to acknowledge SPDC’s compliance with all clean-up standards.

“The Joint Investigation Visit that was monitored by the Bayelsa Ministry of Environment and signed out by all parties established that the spill did not impact on any third party.

“Since compensation was not applicable in this instance, SPDC supplied relief materials to communities that used its right of way for other activities.

“A further investigation conducted in neighbouring communities did not establish a subsequent claim by the Bayelsa Ministry of Environment of impact to third parties,” Obari said.