Oil and Gas Producing Areas Enlightenment and Empowerment Initiative (OGPAEEI) has petitioned the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) over a 2016 spill in Bayelsa State.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that an oil leak from an oilfield operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) had in November 2016 discharged yet to be ascertained volume of crude into the Ekoli River in the state.
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OGPAEEI, in the petition made available to NAN in Yenagoa, the state capital, on Tuesday, urged NOSDRA to compel the operator to comply with industry standards in the spill.
OGPAEEI in its petition addressed to the Director-General of NOSDRA, Dr Peter Idabor, claimed that SPDC’s response to the incident fell short of industry standards as spelt out in the NOSDRA Act.
It said that while the spill had polluted the Ekoli River and spread the oil discharge across communities along its bank, SPDC restricted its community engagement to Otuokpoto community excluding other communities.
Officials of SPDC and Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) had visited Ekoli Creek near Otuokpoti in Bayelsa State in search of the source of oil leak in the area.
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