Families suffer in oil spill aftermath

Trucks transporting petroleum park outside the Kenya Pipeline Company depot in Nakuru on May 4, 2015. The company plans to spend Sh22 billion to devolve oil to counties across the country . PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The 95-year-old man is afraid that his two sons, their wives and their children, may be sent to early graves unless they get specialised care.
  • For four months now, the family members have been treated for chest pains, persistent pneumonia, nausea, skin irritation and abdominal pains.
  • Makueni leaders have accused the oil company of negligence and condemned their slow response.

Makueni County residents continue to suffer ill-health after prolonged use of contaminated water following an oil spill.

Six months ago, a pipeline belonging to the State-owned Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) ruptured, spilling oil into the Thange River, a key water source for residents of Thange village.

The oil spill had gone undiscovered for months.

Mzee Ngie Nguku’s family, which lives barely 100 metres from the point where the oil spill occurred, has endured untold suffering.

The 95-year-old man is afraid that his two sons, their wives and their children, may be sent to early graves unless they get specialised care.

For four months now, the family members have been treated for chest pains, persistent pneumonia, nausea, skin irritation and abdominal pains.

The oil spill was reported in May after residents discovered traces of oil in wells dug along the seasonal river.

More than 200,000 litres of fuel have since been retrieved from a shallow well near Mr Nguku’s home after KPC engineers repaired the burst pipe.

Many villagers are feared to have ingested dangerous amounts of petroleum with others using the contaminated water to water their vegetables.

“We didn’t know that the oil spill could have such effects on our health until everyone including children started suffering similar symptoms,” Mr Nguku told the Sunday Nation at his home.

HEALTH HAZARDS

The farmer says the government should have conducted a public health campaign after the spill to ensure sick residents undergo treatment.

“We are sick, our cows and goats are sick and even our shambas, the only source of livelihood, are affected,” he said adding they are now contemplating migrating to a safer location.

Mr Simon Warui, a teacher at St Peter’s Thange secondary school, had to get specialised treatment in Nairobi.

According to Dr Wachira Maina, a rheumatologist who treated Mr Warui, taking water or eating vegetables contaminated with oil can easily cause lead poisoning which takes long to be detected.

Residents have also been warned against eating vegetables and other crops irrigated with water from the polluted river.

Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior said a majority of the affected people are poor and cannot afford specialised treatment at top hospitals. 

The senator said moving affected families may be the best solution.

“After public health authorities condemned any food produced from the area as unfit for human consumption, farmers are desperate as they have nowhere to plant this season,” he said.

KENYA PIPELINE NEGLIGENT
With the ongoing rains pounding the area, there are fears effects of the spill will affect wildlife in Tsavo East National Park and marine species in the Indian Ocean.

Kenya Wildlife Service assistant director in charge of Tsavo Conservancy, Mr Robert Obrien, said researchers are analysing the extent of the spill to determine ways of containing the fuels from draining into Tsavo area.

Makueni leaders have accused the oil company of negligence and condemned their slow response.

KPC acting Managing Director Flora Okoth said they had contracted SGS, an internationally renowned independent inspector, to conduct appraisal of the affected area for purposes of informed and conclusive bio-remediation work to restore the environment.

During a visit to the site this week, Ms Okoth announced that the company will compensate those affected by the spillage and offered a public apology for the slow response to the disaster.