A couple of weeks ago I was
walking past one of the many petrol and diesel storage facilities that are scattered
around Kampala and noticed a black sticky tar bubbling out from an open drain.
People walked casually by, some even smoking cigarettes oblivious to the
hazardous substance inches from their feet. As a health and safety expert I was
immediately aware of the dangers to health from this substance and the possible
risk of an explosion. When I reported it to the oil company they were
unconcerned and the guard at the front gate simply smiled and said “We have
insurance”. It was only after complaining to the city council, the drain was
finally cleaned and the leaking pipe fixed. It made me wonder if this cavalier
attitude is widespread in East Africa or just a specific problem in Uganda?
What worried me the most was how
much contamination did this localised leak cause to the water supply. A recent
article indicated that the State of California have been complicit in allowing
oil producers and refiners to contaminate ground water supplies and if this
situation can happen in America where oil drilling has been going on for over a
hundred years then what chance do emerging nations have in maintaining a
strategic health and safety policy.
Some might say as more and more
African nations start to produce and refine oil they have not had enough time
to realise the impact of an oil spillage. However in 2009 an oil consortium in
Southern Sudan was accused by a German aid organisation of contaminating the
local water supply which seriously affected over 300,000 people. The water
supply had the same level of contamination as an oil well borehole which is a
horrifying thought considering how important clean drinking water is to the
human body. These ‘life-threatening’ substances were found in nearby wells,
with people from the local village complaining about the unusual taste from the
water supplies which made them ill.
Fuel poisoning is a serious issue
and happens when the substance is inhaled, swallowed or touched. Crude oil is
made from various hydrocarbons which are carcinogenic to the human body and can
cause various symptoms to the ears, eyes, throat and nose. A person who has
been affected by fuel poisoning may have a loss of vision, vomiting blood,
burning of the contact area, physical weakness and even death. Therefore if the
symptoms are so serious what are the causes of this type of water
contamination?
In the UK fracking (hydraulic
fracturing) has become a hot issue concerning the land trespassing laws but in
America fracking has been going on for some years and recently the Obama administration
published a report stating this technique can contaminate the water supply. The
energy companies did contest these results and believe if contamination did
occur, it is only in very isolated incidents. However the environmental
organisation Earthworks have categorically said the idea of fracking as a safe
method of oil extraction is a myth and governments need to rethink their
approach to this method.
Apart from inland contamination
our oceans and seas are polluted on a regular basis by spills, dumping and oil run
offs. The water pollution guide also says oil spills contribute to ‘12% of
oceanic oil contamination’ and a large amount of the remaining commercial waste
comes from shipping transportation. This is a serious problem because if a
tanker spills oil then a very large amount can quickly accumulate in one
specific place killing the eco structure within that area. Fish suffocate,
birds are unable to fly and marine plants die due to lack of light, this is
because the oil forms a think sludge which is not dissolved in the water.
Now a number of countries have
started drilling near lakes or actually in the lake where local people depended
on that water source for cooking, cleaning and food. If a spill happens in this
area the impact is so much worst for the eco structure and the surrounding
communities. Could you imagine Lake Albert or Lake Victoria saturated with oil?
The social, environmental and economic cost would be huge and quite frankly
devastating, so how can this impact be minimised or eliminated?
Prevention rather than response
must be paramount to protecting water supplies. Companies and sites need a
regular health and safety inspection to maintain agreed standards. Employees
have a duty of care for their work and surroundings and additional awareness
training may be required filtering through to every employee. Facilities should
be design with increased reliability, old systems (pipes, tankers and storage
units) maybe reaching the end of their lifespan and thus are more prone to
failure. Furthermore the big oil producers are now regularly fitting leak
detection systems to monitor risk. Unfortunately smaller or less scrupulous
companies may cut cost to gain a contract or increase profits by not fitting
monitoring devices or using substandard materials. Finally prevention can come
in the form of choosing better transportation routes located away from local
communities to minimise contamination.
Once preventative measures have
been implemented then procedures for fast response to a spillage needs to be
considered. International agencies like CEDRE have pushed forward legislation
in western countries for oil producers to have an emergency response plan for
each site assessing the impact of marine and freshwater contamination. Once a
spill has been identified a rapid response team are sent to minimise the impact
and will use equipment suitable for the situation. For example a mechanical
skimmer maybe used to remove oil offshore, but with all the best will in the
world response will never be better than prevention.
As for Kampala, a week later I
went past the same spot where I found the original spillage and found
everything had been cleared, no mechanical dredging devices used, rather manual
labour to repair the drain and remove the oil. Did it contaminate the water
supply? I cannot say but I hope I never have to see such a spillage in the high
street again, because oil can bring so many benefits for a community as long as
it is controlled and applied correctly.
