From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has disclosed how it deployed an aircraft, five vessels to contain the oil leakage from the Egina facility operated by TotalEnergies.
According to the agency, the spill response aircraft and vessels were used to apply dispersants on the oil leak that occurred on Nov 15, a development, that kept the spill from impacting the shoreline.
It was learnt that dispersants are chemicals used in mopping up crude oil spills and it acts by breaking down oil molecules.
Mr. Idris Musa, Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of NOSDRA gave an update on the response to the incident in a statement on Saturday. He explained that the agency promptly deployed its personnel to the spill site, a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel in the Atlantic Ocean located about 130 kilometres off Rivers/Akwa coastline.
Musa who said the spill was caused by an operational mishap due to an export hose failure explained that the prompt response from the operator to the spill led to identification and leak stopped as spilled crude was being contained to avoid further spread and damage to the environment.
“The Agency received the report of a crude oil spill incident from TotalEnergies Upstream Nigeria PLC which occurred from the company’s Egine Floating. Production Storage and Offload (FP$O) facility.
“The spill is as a result of export hose snap on Nov 15 at 06:27 hrs. The facility is located deep offshore at a distance of 130 km from the shoreline, and ultra deep-water depth of 1150 m.The report of the incident complies with extant laws and regulations.
“The operator of the FPSO immediately triggered all the required resources and commenced response activities under the effective guidance and supervision of the Agency,”
“Following a request from TotalEnergies, we facilitated entry into Nigeria, a Borba dispersant application aircraft and six expatriates from Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL) Southampton. UK to hasten response activities.
“The support results from the approval from relevant government agencies as contained in the Nation & Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP) have been remarkable.
“The aircraft did three runs, spraying 10,500 litres of the dispersant on the affected areas while five vessels continued with mechanical agitation to breakdown the slick and carry out in-vessel spraying of dispersant.’’
Musa noted that the company’s vessels are following up movement of the slick and booms which have been put in place to contain and recover oil where feasible.
According to the NOSDRA DG, shoreline surveillance and baseline mapping were carried out starting from Calabar River to Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom State.