Nigeria, Ogoniland: communities demand oil pollution clean-up and compensation

Residents of Ogoniland (pop. 832,000), in Rivers State, Nigeria, are demanding compensation and clean-up of the oil that has polluted water sources and destroyed their livelihoods.  A UNEP study [1] published in August 2011, concluded that the environmental restoration of Ogoniland could take 25 to 30 years and would require an initial investment of US$ 1 billion contributed by the oil industry and the Government.

Communities relying on polluted wells should immediately be provided with adequate sources of drinking water, the UNEP study said. However, three months after the release of the study, only two of the ten communities where drinking water was found to be dangerously contaminated by oil had been provided with safe water, claimed Chris Newsom of Stakeholder Democracy Network.

A water tanker supplies potable water to a community in Nisioken Ogale, 15 Sep 2011. Photo: UNEP

Tanzania, Zanzibar: sewage disposal challenge

Zanzibar’s waste management and sanitation facilities have not be able to cope with the increase in the Tanzanian island’s population, which grew from 300,000 in 1964 to 1.1 million people now.

Only a minority of residents in Zanzibar City are connected to the sewerage network, which consists of a mere 25km of pipes. The rest of the island’s inhabitants rely on septic tanks and soak pits, while some people have no toilets at all.

A 2006 government directive requires hotels to treat their own sewage, but this rule is widely flouted.

Considerable amounts of sewage, including from septic tanks where only minimal treatment takes place, are discharged directly into the sea: The island has no sewage treatment plant.

“Primary liquid waste treatment is only done at the septic tank where there is only [a] 30 percent reduction of the BOD [biological oxygen demand - a measure of water quality] before being discharged into the ocean along any of the 27 sea outfalls,” Mzee Juma, a ZMC sanitary engineer, told IRIN.

Sludge from septic pits and latrines is dumped into the mangrove stands and pollutes the sea.

Contamination has already been noted in the Maruhubi area, north of Zanzibar City, according to a government report prepared for the WIO-LaB project, coordinated by the UN Environment Programme and the Global Environment Facility.

Maruhubi is used by private sludge emptiers and is prone to flooding during high tides. Mangroves growing there help absorb some of the organic waste.

Studies have shown that nutrient levels in near-shore waters are higher than normal for tropical seawaters, indicating anthropogenic inputs. Faecal and total coliform levels of up to 70/100ml and numerous thousands per ml of seawater, respectively, have been reported in the waters fronting the Zanzibar Municipality, said the WIO-LaB report. [...] “Contamination of biota [plant and animal life], including those harvested for food such as bivalves [kind of mollusc], has been reported, as have water-borne diseases such as dysentery, diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid, among others,” it said.

Untreated municipal and industrial wastes are currently the main threats to the quality of water, while overflowing pit latrines compound the pollution problem.

There is an urgent need to install a sewage treatment facility and intercepting sewers along the coastline. Other options include the construction of longer sea outfalls to the deep sea.

Solid waste management is also inadequate. Of about 200 tons generated daily, only 45 percent is moved to dumping sites, with the remainder left in open spaces. About 0.5kg of solid waste is generated per capita per day – 80 percent of it organic – according to estimates.

Source: IRIN, 23 Apr 2010

Liberia: Community demands answers on rubber pollution

People living next to Firestone Natural Rubber Company’s plantation in Harbel, 45km outside of Liberia’s capital Monrovia, say pollution from the concession is destroying their health, ruining their livelihoods and even killing residents.

On 4 June parliamentarians called on the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to declare why the agency has not yet published the results of a 22 May EPA investigation into the allegations.

[...] Residents of the town of Kpanyarh, just next to Firestone’s rubber plantation in Harbel, say the creek from which they fish and drink their water in the dry season has been contaminated with toxins.

“We used to fish and drink the water,” 67-year-old Kpanyarh resident John Powell told IRIN on a visit to the creek which runs just outside the town. He said the water became toxic in October 2008. “We can’t drink it any longer. Some of our people have already died from this. We have drawn Firestone’s attention to our plight but they have ignored it.”

Residents are falling ill with diarrhoea after drinking at the site, and at least three have died as a result of drinking the polluted water since it first emitted toxins in October 2008, Powell said.

[...] In a 3 June statement sent to IRIN Firestone Rubber said: “Firestone Liberia is committed to protecting the health and welfare of our employees, neighbours and fellow citizens of Liberia…That commitment includes our treatment of the water used in our plant.”

The operations includes a multi-million-dollar water treatment facility which was developed in collaboration with Robert Knight, a wetlands expert, according to the statement provided by Rufus Kormoh, Firestone’s Liberia spokesperson.

Since the facility was set up tests have confirmed water quality is “excellent”, it says.

Source: IRIN, 04 Jun 2009

Tanzania, North Mara: villagers fearful after mine water containment pond overflows

Water from a storage pond at Barrick Gold’s North Mara mine in Tanzania is seeping through containing walls, leading local villagers to fear their water sources are contaminated. Monitoring equipment detected abnormally low pH levels in the Tigithe River, in the Tarime district in the north of Tanzania beginning on May 4 following a period of heavy rainfall. Villagers reported that the water had turned a reddish colour.

District councillor Agostino “Neto” Sasi [said] that trees along the river banks were dying and that three children and an old man experienced skin problems after contact with the water. “The river has overflowed its banks into the fields and caused crops such as millet, maize and sorghum also to dry up. About five cows have died from drinking water from the river.”

[...] Though the mine is described by Barrick as operating at zero discharge, meaning no water is released back into the surrounding environment, villagers have long complained that the mine has negative effects. “This problem began in 2006. The impact of the contaminated waters of Tigithe river is huge,” according to Machage B. Machage, councillor of Matongo ward. “Cattle are dying from drinking from the river, fish are dying, plants near the river have all dried up and the community is complaining. “The problem intensifies during heavy rains because the water spreads to a larger area, with crops wilting, and the community making big losses.”

[...] [Mining company] Barrick responded quickly [to the reported spill], dispatching experts to the scene. The company’s environmental and water specialists found the river water to be acidic. A sample taken approximately a kilometre downstream found a pH level of 4.8, more than ten times more acidic than the typical pH of rainwater.

“The decreased pH levels are believed to be the primary result of water moving from containment ponds designed to contain water that comes in contact with waste dumps,” Barrick’s PR and communications manager, Teweli K. Teweli wrote in a May 14 statement. The discharge is from a pond containing acidic runoff water from the mine’s waste rock.

“To avoid seepage from the ponds, they are lined with a special PVC plastic liner material that is laid at the base of the pond. However, the liner material has recently been damaged and compromised by thieves. A secondary source is the adjacent temporary ore stockpile, from which water with increased acidity drains as a consequence of rainfall.”

The company statement says the increased water flow in the river has diluted the discharge, and pH levels have returned to normal, but it is also taking further measures.

[...] Councillor Machage rejects the company’s accusation of theft of plastic liner by the community [but Barrick's Teweli K. Teweli claimed that] “the PVC liners in the affected ponds have been replaced more than four times in less than a year”.

Relations between the company and people in surrounding villages are not the best, stemming both from dissatisfaction with the levels of compensation paid to those displaced by the mine when it was established in 2003 and from the belief that the mine has negatively impacted the environment.

Source: Terna Gyuse, IPS, 18 May 2009

Uganda, Lake Victoria: fishermen cautioned on hygiene, diseases

Kampala — POOR sanitation among communities living around Lake Victoria poses a threat to their lives, a water ministry official has warned. “Poor hygiene among most fishing communities is shocking. If not addressed quickly, cholera might break out,” said Richard Okonga, the assistant commissioner for international and transboundary water resources management.

He said the problem was made worse by fishermen who had refused to use ecological sanitation toilets (Ecosan toilets). “Most fishermen say it is time wasting and anti-cultural to pour wood ash in the toilet after using it. So they have resorted to using the bushes,” he said.

Okonga was speaking at a workshop organised by the East African Communities Organisation for the Management of Lake Victoria Resources (ECOVIC) at Hotel Triangle in Kampala on Thursday

Ecosan toilets are common in Rwamika, Bukakata and other landing sites on Lake Victoria. Unlike pit-latrines, they separate urine from faeces.

The ECOVIC regional coordinator, Keefa Kaweesa, expressed concern that poor sanitation was affecting the quality of water and fish stock.

“Lake Victoria supports more than 30 million people, but its fish stock has reduced from 1.9 million tonnes in 1999 to 370,000 tonnes currently. Even revenue from the fish is reducing drastically.”

Source: Francis Kagolo, New Vision / allAfrica.com, 04 May 2009

Botswana: FCC Warns Churches of Unsafe Waters

Public health specialist at the Francistown City Council (FCC), Dr Paul Nashara has warned churches to stop baptising new converts in rivers around the city. The medic warned that the practice of baptism by immersion, preferred by certain African independent churches, could be dangerous to human health. “The water is not safe at all. We will be making a follow up to ensure that the practice is stopped now, particularly during the rainy season and at this time of cholera and bilharzia epidemic,” Nashara [said]. [...] The FCC has pleaded with people not to swim, wash clothes or bath in the rivers.

[...] Nashara revealed that quite a number of primary school going children in the low-income locations of Monarch have bilharzia, a waterborne disease. He said a survey in some primary schools is currently going on to determine the extent of the health problem.

Source: Ryder Gabathuse, Mmegi / allAfrica.com, 18 Feb 2009

South Africa: Dirty Water Used on Fruit, Vegetables

Stellenbosch University scientists are using sophisticated molecular analysis to find out if the levels of harmful bacteria on locally grown fruit and vegetables, is linked to contaminated river water used for irrigating crops.

The research is important because it is likely to increase pressure on local municipalities to improve their water-treatment management. Fruit- and vegetable-growing businesses risk losing key customers if there are unacceptably high levels of dangerous bacteria on their crops, but had limited scope to clean up the water they obtained from local rivers since setting up their own water treatment plants would be impractical and unaffordable, said Jo Barnes, an epidemiologist from the university’s community health department.

Most of the dangerous bugs came from improperly treated sewage discharged into rivers by municipalities, but a small amount came directly from communities living along river banks, she said.

[...]

Barnes’ research into river contamination in Western Cape has already shown that the water contains [...] E coli, salmonella, listeria, adenovirus, and several strains of streptococcal bacteria. [L]evels of E coli were thousands of times higher than SA’s recommended safety levels of 2000 bacteria per 100ml of water, a threshold that is already twice that of the European Union.

[...]

Since cooking destroys most bacteria and viruses, the researchers are focusing on food eaten raw or lightly cooked. Barnes said anxious consumers could reduce their risk of infection by rinsing fruit and vegetables in a bowl of water containing a bit of household bleach.

Source: Tamar Kahn, Business Day (Johannesburg) / allAfrica.com, 18 Aug 2008

Uganda: Lake Victoria degradation threatening livelihoods

A few years ago, Charles Kyagaba used to sell up to 300kg of fresh fish at the Gaba landing site near the Ugandan capital of Kampala each day, but now the situation is markedly different.

[...]

According to environmentalists, over-fishing, pollution and other human activities along Lake Victoria as well as climate change are threatening to destroy Africa’s largest freshwater lake resource.

[...]

Frank Mulamuzi, an environmental advocate and executive director of the Ugandan NGO, the National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE), said the lake was mainly threatened by pollution. Across the three East African nations, the lake had become a reservoir for excessive untreated effluents, including sewage, industrial waste and other chemicals.

Read more: IRIN, 01 Aug 2008