The House of Representatives Committee on South-South Development Commission has called for urgent intervention to address a prolonged gas seepage in Bille community, Rivers State, and an oil spill that has affected Odidi Federated Community in Delta State for more than five months.
The committee’s Chairman, Julius Pondi, said the incidents highlight the environmental and developmental challenges facing oil-producing communities across the Niger Delta.
The committee expressed concern over the Bille gas seepage, which has reportedly persisted for about nine months. Technical findings by NOSDRA detected gases including hydrogen sulphide, methane, volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide, as well as petroleum hydrocarbon pollution in parts of the community’s soil, surface water and groundwater.
NOSDRA, however, said it had not established a link between the gas seepage and any specific oil and gas operator, noting that the source was probably biogenic.
The lawmakers called for concrete, time-bound measures to resolve both environmental crises and provide relief to affected communities.
