Bayelsa Demands $12 Billion to Clean Up Decades-Long Oil Pollution

The Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission has called for at least $12 billion to be invested over 12 years to clean up decades of oil pollution in the state. The commission's report, 'An Environmental Genocide: Counting the Human and Environmental Cost of Oil in Bayelsa, Nigeria,' found that the level of contamination was so severe that as much as 1.5 barrels of oil had been spilled for every man, woman, and child living in the state.

Bayelsa accounts for about 18 to 20 percent of Nigeria's oil production, but despite generating over $150 billion for the federal government since 2006, the state has suffered disproportionately from environmental degradation. The commission's scientific work included a review of hydrocarbon contamination in soil, water, and air, as well as a health impact study involving blood samples from over 1,600 people.

The report found that oil-related toxins had entered the food chain and were detected in the bloodstreams of people tested in affected communities. In some locations, chromium concentrations in groundwater were reported at more than 1,000 times the World Health Organization's limit.