Oil gushing from Nigerian wellhead blasts hopes of those living nearby
26 November 2021 |
1:04 pm
Three weeks after the Santa Barbara wellhead failed, it is still blasting water, gas and oil across Nembe in Nigeria's Delta, littering the shoreline and water with yellow-brown clumps of waste as cleanup crews and booms struggle to contain it.
Santa Barbara wellhead owner Aiteo Eastern E&P, the petroleum minister and Nigeria's president have all promised that specialist workers would quickly stop the spill.
But experts say the difficulties containing it are a reminder of how the once-fertile, fish-filled creeks, mangrove swamps and waterways that crisscross Nigeria's Delta became some of the most polluted areas on the planet amid decades of energy exploration.
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