BOSSTYCOONZ

Fishing Halted In Bayelsa Communities As Crude Oil Spills Into Atlantic Ocean

A yet to be ascertained volume of crude has been discharged into the Atlantic Ocean from the Brass Oil Export Terminal, operated by the Agip off the Nigerian Coastline in Bayelsa state, has discharged a yet to be ascertained volume of crude into the Atlantic ocean.
Confirming the oil spill, Chief Information Officer at National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Mr Henshaw Oguwike, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday that, “The incident occurred on Thursday and our team is already at the spill site, so, I can tell you that investigations have commenced and by the time our men come back from the site, more facts will be made available.” Oguwike said.
According to him, the ongoing investigation would reveal the cause of the spill and the volume of crude discharged into the environment.
The NOSDRA spokesman said that the agency had also deployed its newly acquired oil spill response vessel to combat the spill.
The oil discharged from the incident had spread along the coastline to Odioama and other coastal communities in Bayelsa near the oil terminal.
Community sources in Odioama told NAN on telephone that the waters along the Atlantic coastline were covered by a thick coat of oil which compelled them to suspend fishing.
“We started noticing oil on Friday and soon afterward we saw oil workers attempting to contain the oil from spreading, but it was far more than they could handle so we had to pull out of fishing,” Doubra Samson, a resident said.
Oil spill is not a strange occurrence in the Niger Delta, and not strange also is the lackadaisical attitude of oil companies responsible for spills to do what is expected of them in remediating the polluted sites and compensating the communities affected.
Apart from affecting the livelihood of the people living in the area, thousands of animals in the affected area may be dead already, depending on the volume of crude spilled.