Okrika, Eleme communities threatened by water pollution - study

Bolaji Ogundele, Port Harcourt - 02.07.2009

A high degree of underground water pollution now threatens human life in Ekerekana community of Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State.
A study of water samples from the community at the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden showed that large quantity of hydrocarbon had polluted their water sources

The president of the Institute for the Environment, Mr. Onwusameka Ogbowuokara, disclosed this in Port Harcourt on his return from Sweden.

He said, following the outcry of the community over the presence of large quantity of hydrocarbon in their streams and even in boreholes sunk within the area, the institute collected samples of borehole water and stream to the laboratories in Sweden for analysis.

He said that the results of the analysis showed high underground water pollution, which had spread to certain radius from Okrika up to Eleme in Eleme Local Government Area as well as Woji in Obio- Akpor Local Government Area.