MONROVIA – Thousands of residents of the Sethi Brothers Community in Clara Town, outside Monrovia, are complaining of the pollution of their wells and environment following the spilling of huge quantity of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) from the compound of the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC).
The Liberia Petroleum Refining Company is located in the Clara Town vicinity on the Bushrod Island.
Residents of the community and other nearby areas woke up to news on Monday, July 20 that thousands of gallons of diesel have spilled over a river that flows into the Atlantic Ocean in the Sethi Brothers community.
The affected residents include elderly men and women, children and youths.
The victims claimed that their wells mostly used for cooking, bathing, drinking and other purposes have been polluted as a result of the incident.
The affected residents pointed out that the fuel spillage has compelled them to trek long distances to fetch water, or purchase multiple sachets of mineral water for cooking or drinking purposes, something which, they claimed is increasing their already impoverished condition.
They complained that the situation has also compelled their aging relatives to remain indoors instead of sitting on their respective porches because of the ‘or of the diesel that has overtaken the entire community’.
Cause of Spillage
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), technical assessment of the spillage uncovered that the source of the leakage which led to the spillage is from one of the diesel storage tanks at the LPRC.
Authorities of the EPA established that on Sunday, July 19, 2020 the management of LPRC carried out normal operation of transferring petroleum products from a vessel to storage tank 402. While in the process, tank 402 begun to overflow with diesel.
The operation was conducted at night with poor visibility and manual system. It was also established that the valve which closes the tank was opened, thereby allowing oil to flow from the tank into the Mesurado River.
The situation resulted into massive water pollution spanning from LPRC facility to Vamuco in Vai Town and beyond.
According to the EPA, it is leading a full-scale assessment considering all parameters of concern. The assessment team includes EPA, Liberia Maritime Authority (LMA) and LPRC.
Wells and air polluted
Speaking in an interview with FrontPageAfrica, the chairman of the Sethi Brothers Community, Boakai Kallon underscored the need for aid to be provided to residents very urgently.
“I woke up around 5:30AM and my whole house was smelling with fuel. I saw people dipping the fuel oil from on top of the water. The fuel was over two inches thick on top the water. I called someone from LPRC and said there is fuel all over in our community; and the person said one of the tanks was overfilled”.
“For now, we don’t have any water in here even to wash or cook because all of our wells are polluted. The air is polluted also and there is no way for us to smell or breathe properly. As you can see, I am just from cleaning my porch.”
He promised that community dwellers will meet shortly to assess the incident and take the appropriate actions for the benefit of all.
Mr. Kallon disclosed that residents of the area would also engage into a cleaning up exercise until government and others can come to their rescue to provide safe drinking water and others.
No ‘careless’ usage of fire
At the same time, the community chairman has urged residents to be mindful of the usage of fire in their homes and other areas in the community.
He noted that it would be more disastrous if any resident carelessly uses fire in the community during this time, adding that, his leadership would engage into an awareness campaign to ensure the protection of residents.
“We will educate the community dwellers and provide guidance to protect them. We want urge them not use fire carelessly because when that is done; God forbid, it will be disastrous and we don’t want to see it happening.”
“The fuel scent woke me up this morning around 5AM. When I came out I saw that our wells we use for cooking and also bathing were all polluted. Look and see the fuel floating on top of the water. We are taking water elsewhere now though we have our pump here. The pump is not active; sometimes water comes, sometimes it doesn’t,” Alex Williams, one of the affected residents stated.
“You can see the fuel on my hand from this water. This water is not safe for even bathing before I say cooking” he added.
“I can’t even breathe well before I will say I coming talk something to you; you see, I am leaving my porch going inside my house. The fuel oil scent too strong for me to be outside for more than 15 minutes”, an elderly woman who identified herself as Ma Jebeh stated.
‘July 26’ Opportunity
The fuel spillage comes barely few days to Liberia’s next Independence Day celebration on July 26.
Scores of young people, including few elderly men and women trooped to the river banks with foams, buckets, gallons and tubs to absorb the floating diesel from the river.
Some of them claimed to have absorbed between five, and even up to 50 gallons of the spilled fuel which floated on top of the river.
They described the incident as a ‘misfortune on the part of LPRC which has created opportunity” for them.
“We were taking the fuel from on top of the water. I can’t give you the exact gallons I collected because other people were stealing from me. As I filled in the gallons, other people were stealing it from behind me. But, I was able to control four gallons for myself. It was a very huge opportunity for me. It was a blessing for us even though the government is really ill-treating us,” Abdulah Kawah, one of the youths of the community stated.
Esther Mulbah, 46, a mother of five children and a resident of the Clara Town community, termed the incident as a ‘miracle’ that will help her provide the basic needs of her kids during this time.
“My brother, I was thinking where to even get money from the way July 26 is coming. Our chopping open today; every disappointment to someone is a blessing to another person. Even though they lost, but we gained and so, me I am happy”.
A six-gallon container of fuel being sold for L$3,540 was being sold by those who benefited from the spilled fuel for between L$2000 to L$2500.
“I heard about the episode and never took it to be serious; but my mother kept embarrassing me. I came and said no, I can’t be here and this opportunity God has given me pass. I utilized it and I have several liters of fuel. I will sell a gallon for L$2500. At least I will get enough money today,” Young Apostle stated.
“I saw lot of people with gallons in their hands this morning. Nothing to do and so, I decided to come and join them. I collected about six gallons. I will use the money to buy one or two things for my children because the season is coming”, Alfred Yeahgar stated.
LPRC says incident is ‘minor’
Despite the claims raised by the affected residents, the Managing Director of the LPRC, Madam Marie Urey-Coleman described the incident as ‘minor’.
She disclosed that only a small quantity of diesel that was being discharged from a vessel spilled into the community.
“In this business we do, we will say minor because it was only 3,000 gallons of diesel we had spilled over during the vessel discharge. We want to assure you that the situation has been put under control and we are working with a team from the EPA and NPA. They are here making sure that everything is set and in place”.
No Need for Concerned?
For his part, the Deputy Minister for Public Affairs at the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism said there is no need for “concern or alarm” over the spillage of the diesel.
He added that the Liberian Coast Guard, the Liberia National Fire Service and technocrats from the LPRC are assessing the incident.
“As a matter of concern right now, we are focused on clearing the spillage and doing our assessment as to what needs to be done after that. Contrary to the report you heard about a busted tank that is not true”.
He clarified that the spillage was caused during the discharge of the diesel from a vessel to one of the storage tanks.
Minister Fahngon attributed the incident to the age-old storages at the LPRC.
“Some of these storage facilities have been around since 1966. They are not up to modern standards. You don’t expect someone to stand over the tank and see how much is being put into the tank. This government is working hard and hopefully by the end of May or June next year, we will have modernized systems into place to make sure that these things don’t happen”.
He stated that the latest spill incident involving the LPRC is not unique to the entity, adding that, “it’s everywhere”.