Environmental Analysis 5


stages of the study. This included developing sampling protocols, sample preservation techniques, chain of custody procedures and analytical quality control techniques.


A dedicated team of ALcontrol scientists was established to manage the environmental monitoring component of the Ogoniland project. This helped to ensure that the Nigerian samples were processed quickly but independently of the other work in the ALcontrol laboratory, which was important because the very high levels of contamination in many of the samples necessitated extra pre-analysis procedures. The provision of a dedicated team also improved communications and meant that ALcontrol was able to provide technical support by people that were familiar with the project.


The lead scientist for site services was ALcontrol's Geraint Williams who visited Ogoniland several times during the project and was responsible for the quality of sampling. He provided training on site investigation techniques, sample handling and chain of custody processes, and established suitable packaging, sample protection and logistics in order to ensure that samples arrived in Chester in perfect condition. He also took a number of control samples to make sure that the sampling and transportation programme did not affect the results.


Detailed soil and groundwater contamination investigations were conducted at 69 sites, which ranged in size from 1,300 square metres to 79 hectares. Each of the 4,000 samples was tested for multiple species. This included water taken from 142 groundwater monitoring wells drilled specifically for the study and soil extracted from 780 boreholes.


Looking back, Geraint believes that the ability to review results over the web was a key benefit for this project. "Ogoniland pollution is a highly sensitive issue and prior to the publication of the final report, the analytical results were confidential, so the data was posted to a secure website running the @mis reporting tool," he explained. "This avoided the necessity for using unsecure email, but the main advantage was the availability of almost live data 24/7, which was important because senior UNEP staff and their consultants were located in different parts of the world."


Typically, the time taken from sampling to the availability of result via the @mis system was ten days. Geraint says "It was very important for this to be kept as short as possible because of the tight timescales for the whole project, so it was vital for the consultants that were responsible for the interpretation of the data, to have access to the results as quickly as possible."


There were a number of occasions in which it became necessary to determine the age and origin of a spill, so further specialist analytical work was necessary and senior members of the project team worked closely with ALcontrol staff to draw appropriate conclusions from the observed results.


The report was subjected to a rigorous international independent expert peer review to ensure that the work, including sampling protocols and quality control procedures, was fit for purpose. The report was finally published on 4th August 2011.


Key findings


Soil pollution by petroleum hydrocarbons in Ogoniland is extensive in land areas, sediments and swampland. Most of the


contamination is from crude oil although contamination by refined product was found at three locations.


Some areas, which appear unaffected at the surface, were found to be heavily contaminated underground. In 49 cases, hydrocarbons were detected in soil at depths of at least 5m. This finding has major implications for the type of remediation required.


The drinking water in at least 10 Ogoni communities is contaminated with high levels of hydrocarbons, posing a significant threat to public health. In one community, at Nisisioken Ogale, in western Ogoniland, drinking water is contaminated with benzene at levels over 900 times the World Health Organization guideline value. In one area, an 8 cm layer of refined oil was discovered floating on the groundwater which serves drinking wells. This was reportedly linked to an oil spill which occurred more than six years ago.


Volatile hydrocarbons, including benzene, were also detected in the air and mangrove vegetation has been severely impacted by oil slicks in the bay.


UNEP has recommended a series of technical, legal and institutional measures to restore the environmental situation in Ogoniland and estimates that it will take up to three decades and cost billions of dollars. UNEP has also recommended the creation of a new Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority and an Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Fund with an initial invest of one billion US dollars to initiate the clean up and restoration.


Reactions to the report


Following receipt of the UNEP report President Goodluck Jonathan is reported to have constituted a committee to review its findings and the oil companies operating in Nigeria have constituted a committee for the ’Restoration of Ogoniland to its old glory.’ It is anticipated that a transition project, leading to full scale clean up, will commence in 2012.


Following publication of the report, the Government of Rivers State has started providing clean drinking water to the communities whose water wells were demonstrated to be contaminated with carcinogenic substances.


SPDC Managing Director Mutiu Sunmonu has responded to the UNEP report in a video on the Shell Nigeria website. He says: “This report makes a valuable contribution towards improving


understanding of the issue of oil spills and the environment in Ogoniland and we pledge to work with the government, UNEP and others on the next steps."


Commenting on behalf of ALcontrol, Iain Swinton said "We were very pleased to have been able to provide an important component of the UNEP report and we hope that it will mark the beginning of an effective remedial plan for Ogoniland.


“Environmental testing and monitoring forms an essential component of effective remediation, so with the lessons that we have learned from our involvement to date, I hope that we will be invited to participate further in the future.


“Our ability to publish 'live' results on the web was an invaluable tool in the UNEP assessment. However, @mis also gives us the ability to provide transparent environmental data to communities, which can be a useful tool in politically sensitive projects. "


Optimised Evaporators for Environmental Analysis


Genevac (UK), manufacturer of solvent removal technologies, offers a range of evaporator systems optimised for environmental analysis. Monitoring of the environment for substances potentially harmful to health is a core activity not just for government departments but for many organisations who wish to ensure that they are not harming their staff or the environment. Samples of air, water, soil or plant matter are routinely monitored for the presence of potentially harmful substances such as pesticides and polyaromatic hydrocarbons.


Pesticides are semi volatile compounds and during evaporation sample loss can occur. This can be critical when preparing potentially contaminated samples such as fruit and vegetables for analysis as inaccurate recoveries can affect the final results.


The EZ-2 ENVI is especially designed for gentle evaporation of such samples and is proven to give excellent pesticide recovery and reproducibility. The system is fully automated, can concentrate a number of samples at the same time and provides protection from cross contamination and bumping.


Developed to handle larger numbers or higher volume samples the Rocket Evaporator provides an ideal solution for concentration in the environmental analytical laboratory. Coupled with Genevac's proprietary SampleGenie technology the Rocket is able to enhance analyte recovery, reduce inter-sample variability and free workers to do more productive tasks than monitoring a concentration system. SampleGenie technology enables large volume samples to be concentrated directly into an autosampler vial, eliminating the need to transfer the sample thereby improving both analytical accuracy and productivity.


Reader Reply Card No. www.envirotech-online.com 14 IET May / June 2012


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