Nema stops oil spill clean-up in Kibwezi

The environmental agency has stopped the ongoing oil spill clean-up in Kibwezi, throwing a spotlight on the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) and the firm contracted to do the job.

National Environment Management Authority (Nema) Director-General Geoffrey Wahungu has accused KPC of contracting an unlicensed company.

“You are therefore required to stop further clean up at the site immediately until you comply with the law,” reads the order addressed to KPC Managing Director Joe Sang.

Mr Sang on July 15 reported that 18,000 litres of oil had been recovered from the spill site and “re-injected back into the pipeline.”

Nema now says Enviroserv Kenya Ltd, the company contracted to clean up the oil spill, is not licensed and therefore has been doing the work in contravention of the 2006 Waste Management Regulation.

Prof Wahungu says he initially wrote to KPC on June 21 this year but “to date you or your agent has not submitted any evidence towards compliance.”

Nema had advised KPC to engage a licensed waste handler.

The waste management regulation states that “any person whose activities generate waste has an obligation to ensure that such waste is transferred to a person who is licensed to transport and dispose off such waste in designated waste disposal facility.”

KPC had explained at the beginning of the clean-up work that Enviroserv was a subsidiary of Enviroserv Waste Management, an international waste management company.

KPC indicated in the statement that Enviroserv had the blessings of the State and "was at liberty to continue with the clean-up uninterrupted for the common good of the people of Makueni.”