DPR promises to end contamination of wells in Benue community
Residents of Naka in Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue state has been assured of a lasting solution towards ending the continuous contamination of over 40 wells by petroleum products suspected to be fuel in their community.
Deputy Controller of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) Makurdi, Gabriel Adagba, gave the assurance on Sunday when he led a team of officials to the community to carry out manual and scientific investigation of the suspected underground storage tanks belonging to Gabrow Filling Station which the community alleges is behind the pollution.
It was gathered that the Naka-Adoka community had written to the DPR and other relevant authorities in the state for quick response, following reports of the devastating effects of the polluted water from the wells for more than three years and the danger it portends for affected households.
Adagba further assured that an extensive survey will be carried out with the range of about two kilometres radius or more since the initial test conductor on Gabrow Filling Station did not indicate any leakage even when the station was temporarily shut for 48 hours as a matter of procedure to determine if there was leakage from the storage tanks spilling into wells.
He said the samples have already being taken for further investigation and called on the residents on the community to remain calm and desist from using the wells to avoid any unfortunate incident.
Leader of Prompt Engineering, Albert Uduokang, who also conducted the scientific evaluation on the five storage tanks determine if the underground tanks and pipes were leaking, discovered that all the underground tanks were in good shape.
With the source of the spillage yet to be identified, there are indications that the spill may have come from a distant source flowing through an underground water table and contaminating the community’s source of drinking water.
While the DPR advised for the complete shut -down of the wells for safety purposes, it however, appealed to the local government authority to provide alternative source of water for the people.
Gerald Ugbede and Ernest Gari, who spoke on behalf of the community, expressed appreciation to the DPR for their quick response and intervention to ascertain the source of the spillage.
They however, appealed to the DPR to extend their search to ascertain where the spill is coming from and possibly help curtail the spread.
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Manager of Gabros Filling Station, Polycarp Ameh, whose station is at the epicentre of the allegation, heaved a sigh of relief that the spill is not from petrol, saying the station owes it as a responsibility to serve the community.
Chairman of the Gwer West Local Government Area, Francis Ayarga, who was represented by his media aide, Benjamin Ado, thanked the community for their maturity in handling the matter as well as the DPR for the painstaking effort and quick intervention to unveil the source of the spillage.
