The House of Representatives Committee on South-South Development Commission has demanded urgent intervention to end a prolonged gas seepage in Bille community, Rivers State, and ordered concrete action on an oil spill that has affected Odidi Federated Community in Delta State for more than five months.
Committee Chairman Julius Pondi made the demand on Thursday during an urgent stakeholders’ engagement on the Bille gas seepage and a legislative hearing on the Odidi oil spill in Abuja.
Pondi said the incidents highlight the environmental and developmental challenges facing oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta, where residents continue to suffer the effects of degradation despite the region’s contribution to the national economy.
He described it as unacceptable that the gas seepage in Bille had continued for about nine months without a clear solution, noting the risks to health, safety and the environment as well as the severe economic hardship imposed on residents.
“It is unacceptable for an incident of this magnitude to persist for so long without a clear, time-bound and effective resolution strategy,” he stated, adding that the committee expected comprehensive briefings from the operating company, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and other agencies.
A NOSDRA director, Dr Yusuf Rigasa, briefed the committee that the agency had confirmed the presence of multiple gases including hydrogen sulphide, methane, volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide at several locations in Bille, Degema Local Government Area.
Investigations established multi-point subsurface gas bubbling, including at the premises of the Government Primary and Secondary School, which has since been abandoned.
Air-quality assessments recorded elevated pollutant levels exceeding regulatory thresholds, while laboratory analysis detected elevated total petroleum hydrocarbons in groundwater, surface water and sediment samples.
However, NOSDRA said it had not established that the gases originated from a hydrocarbon source or were linked to any particular oil and gas operator, suggesting the seepage was probably biogenic.
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