Hydrocarbon Oil Spill Cleanup and Remediation in the Niger Delta

Abstract

The paper examines hydrocarbon oil spill Cleanup and Remediation from four perspectives namely historical, regulatory, scientific, and socioeconomic considerations. The historical perspectives show a gap of 12 years between oil production and environmental policies that would guide and enforce Cleanup and Remediation. Historically, official records indicate between 3000-5000 major spillage sites from over 9000 spills, with many undocumented ones waiting to be detected. The Regulatory aspects are evaluated at marginal performance with respect to Cleanup and Remediation. The lack of any publicly accessible documented evidence of Cleanup and Remediation certificates for any site indicates failure in the enforcement of regulatory best practices despite the expectations from the reforms in developing a separate institution such as NOSDRA. This is supported strongly by the inaction to start cleanup of the Ogoni sites nearly four years since the UNEP report was concluded. The Science of Cleanup and Remediation is shown not to have kept pace with the rate at which contaminated sites are being generated.  Only in less than 0.2% of sites (10 sites out of over 5000 sites) are records of attempts at Cleanup and Remediation. Many of the scientific best practices have never been tested in the different ecosystems and habitat types including groundwater. This could have driven innovation in the discovery of new technologies that would make remediation indigenous and cost effective especially as Nigeria ranks as the inland polluted capital of the world. The socioeconomic aspects are analyzed as a complex interplay of interest between the local population, NGOs, the IOCs and the government agencies responsible for Cleanup and Remediation. A strong arbitration component is suggested where reforms in policy should include enforceable incentives and penalties designed into existing and new commercial transactions.