Expert alerts to danger in bitumen exploitation 

An environment foundation, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, has warned that bitumen, which is discovered in commercial quantities in some states, is a worse polluter than petroleum.

Nnimmo Bassey, the executive director of the foundation, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that bitumen exploitation was toxic and environmentally unfriendly, hence environmental impact assessment (EIA) must not be compromised in the course of exploitation, to forestall worse problems than petroleum in the country.

“Very soon, bitumen issue is going to come up in Nigeria and bitumen is even more dangerous than crude oil. So, you are going to expect a belt of five states from Edo to Ondo, Ekiti, Ogun and Lagos states. When they start bitumen exploitation, it’s going to be really horrible.

Sometimes, it may mean displacement of the whole communities because bitumen is extracted either by open cast mining or by drilling. If it is more solid inside the ground, you drill wells, pump hot liquid into it to melt it. So, bitumen is actually more toxic, more polluting than crude oil extraction.”

It is estimated that Nigeria has about 42 billion tonnes of bitumen deposits, which is said to be twice the volume of existing crude oil reserves in Nigeria.

Bassey, however, said that while the expected pollution could not be avoided, its impacts, particularly on the host communities, could be mitigated.

“The pollution from bitumen can only be forestalled by not extracting the bitumen. The impacts on communities can be mitigated by negotiating with the communities and by moving them before extraction commences.”

Described as Nigeria’s next “black gold”, the estimated deposits is documented to rank second to Canada as the world’s largest bitumen deposit.

ConocoPhilips Company, an American multinational corporation, has carried out a technical and economic evaluation of Nigeria’s bitumen, which revealed that there are over 13 billion barrels of oil in the bitumen tar sands and seepages in Nigeria.

The regime of Ibrahim Babangida (1985 to 1990) showed the first serious commitment to bitumen exploration when it set up the Bitumen Project Implementation Committee in 1989. The committee was mandated, among other things, to put in place an enabling structure for the full exploitation of the solid mineral in the country.

Similarly, former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration attempted to take the initiative to another level in 2002 when it opened bid for the exploitation of bitumen.

Nissands Nigeria Limited and Beecon Nigeria Limited won the bid to start the exploitation of bitumen in a 120-sq km belt covering Lagos, Ogun, Ondo and Edo states. (NAN)