Nigerian Oil Spill Cleanup Could Take 30 Years, U.N. Says

The African country of Nigeria is suffering from an environmental disaster that has been going for years, according to a report from the United Nations. In November 2009, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched an assessment of environmental impact of oil spills that have dated back as far as 40 years in the country's Ogoniland region. The U.N. released a report Thursday on the disaster stating that this oil spill "could prove to be the world's most wide-ranging and long-term oil clean-up exercise ever."

The U.N. report stated that the assessment of the damage to the Ogoni region in the Niger Delta was initiated after a request from the Nigerian government. Oil production started in the Niger Delta in the 1950s and ended in the late 1990s, but aging pipes and lack of maintenance over the years have contributed to numerous spills as well as vandalism and damage to pipes.

The assessment report stated that damage over the years has resulted in contamination of water wells that supply drinking water to an area that is home to about 1 million people. The water has been contaminated by chemicals that may cause cancer. The assessment found at least 10 communities where drinking water was contaminated by hydrocarbons at high levels, creating a serious hazard for public health.

Assessments discovered one community where a drinking well was contaminated with the carcinogen benzene at a level that was more than 900 times the accepted safe level put forth by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The report noted "disastrous" effects upon plant life and vegetation in the region; aerial photos of Ogoniland showed oil floating on the surface of waterways. Cleanup in the region could take up to 30 years and cost well in excess of $1 billion over the course of the operation. The cost of the initial investment to cover the first five years of the rehabilitation for the region will cost $1 billion alone and is expected to come from the Nigerian government and the oil industry.

The 14-month probe into the oil spill damage was conducted as an independent study by the UNEP but was funded by Shell Petroleum Development Company. The U.N. report pointed out that the funding was due to the "polluter-pays principle." On the SPDC website, the company has acknowledged responsibility but pointed out that a factor in the ongoing spills in the region was vandalism and crime in the region and that "in the great majority of cases, spills are caused by illegal activity such as sabotage or theft."

Shell did publicly acknowledge and accept responsibility for two oil spills in 2008 that destroyed the Bodo community. The company's statement said that the two spills in 2008 resulted in 4,000 barrels of oil being released in the region. According to a report from treehugger.com, a class action lawsuit forced Shell to admit that a total of over 1 million gallons of oil has been spilled in the Ogoni region.