By Thompson ABISOLA
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has said it is undertaking the clean–up of areas recently affected by oil spillage in two Niger/Delta communities.
The company’s Media Relations Manager, Mr Bamidele Odugbesan, said on Sunday in Lagos, the exercise had reached 95 per cent completion.
Odugbesan stated that the affected areas were in Trans Ramos Pipeline (TRP) in Aghoro community, Bayelsa, and Odimodi community of Delta respectively.
He said the pipelines had initially supplied crude to the SPDC Joint Venture-owned Forcados Oil Terminal in western Niger Delta for export.
He added that the exercise would be followed with immediate remediation of the affected areas.
He acknowledged that the spills were regrettable, and that the clean-up was in line with the standard operating procedures of SPDC.
He said the TRP was shut down immediately the incidents were reported and the Oil Spill Response as well as the Emergency Response teams were activated to prevent further spillage.
“As soon as clean-up and site assessment are completed, we are committed to starting the immediate remediation of the impacted areas in Aghoro and Odimodi.
“Details of the cause and impact of the spills will be captured in the Joint Investigation Visits (JIV) reports, which will be released after sign-off by all parties.
“The JIV is a multi-party exercise involving the regulators, the community, representatives of the state government, security agencies, and representatives of SPDC.
“The outcome is then signed off by the stakeholders to authenticate the findings,” Odugbesan said in a statement.
