8 Oil Pollution in Coastal Waters of Nigeria
159
All these areas correspond to main oil production regions on the land and export oil
terminals in the coastal zone of Nigeria (see Figs. 8.1 and 8.2). Port of Lagos is one
of the largest ports in Africa with increasing volumes of crude oil export. Delta Port,
Rivers Port and Onne Port are located in the oil and gas producing Niger River Delta
region. Delta Port Complex in Delta State includes the ports of Warri, Burutu, Sapele,
and oil terminals at Escravos, Forcados and Pennington (see Fig. 8.1). The Rivers
Port Complex in coastal Rivers State has Port Harcourt (see Fig. 8.1), Okrika Refined
Petroleum Oil Jetty, Haastrup/Eagle Bulk Cement Jetty, Kidney Island Jetty, Ibeto
Jetty, Macobar Jetty and Bitumen Jetty. Rivers State is also a principal petroleumproducing region in the country. Rivers State also has Onne Port Complex on Ogu
Creek near the Bonny River, 20 km from Port Harcourt. It has two major facilities,
the Federal Ocean Terminal and the Federal Lighter Terminal. The port has been
designated as an Oil and Gas Free Zone by the Government. It serves as the main
port for oil and gas operations with Western and Central Africa (Nwilo and Badejo
2001, 2007; Egberongbe et al. 2006; Wikipedia 2012b).
In all the SAR images of the Lagos area, many patches of anthropogenic pollution
are observed (Figs. 8.7 and 8.8). These are probably due to discharges of polluted
water from numerous ships anchored near the port. An example is presented in
Fig. 8.7 featuring an ASAR Envisat image on 5 April 2012 of the coastal zone of
Benin and Nigeria with a zoomed focus on the marine areas in the vicinity of Cotonou
and Lagos ports.
As usual, on SAR images ships are displayed as white bright dots. In front of
Cotonou, which is the economic capital and main port of Benin, we see a dozen of
large ships in the sea with a little oil pollution. The dark area to the right of the outlet
of the canal (see Fig. 8.7), which divides the city in two parts and links Lake Nokoué
and the Atlantic Ocean, is explained by biogenic films. These are found in the canal
plume and dampen gravity-capillary waves.
In front of Port of Lagos we see several dozens of ships with over 30 ship discharges of different size (Fig. 8.7). Total polluted area is estimated to 7 km
2 . Affected
by the local coastal current, they stretch out along the coastline. This area is much
more polluted than Cotonou Port. Westward of this outlined area we observe another
20 km long oil slick. Other coastal and open ocean areas on this satellite frame are
free of oil pollution (Fig. 8.7). A similar picture is observed almost on every Envisat
ASAR image of the Lagos area (Fig. 8.8). For example, in Fig. 8.8 we again observe
several dozen ships in front of the port and a dozen oil spills of different size around.
In the coastal region off the western Niger Delta, oil pollution has many different
causes. These include operational activities at sea oil platforms, bunker works at
oil terminals, ship discharges, and outflows from the river arms. All these types of
pollution are evident, for example, in Envisat ASAR images of 21 December 2011
(Fig. 8.5) and 28 March 2012 (Fig. 8.8). Beside anthropogenic pollution, the region
of the western Niger Delta has many locations where natural oil seeps in the sea.
Their ASAR patterns on the sea surface are typical of similar petroleum seeps in
other oil rich marine areas such as the Gulf of Mexico, Persian Gulf, Caspian Sea,
etc. (Lavrova and Kostianoy 2010; Lavrova et al. 2011).
159
All these areas correspond to main oil production regions on the land and export oil
terminals in the coastal zone of Nigeria (see Figs. 8.1 and 8.2). Port of Lagos is one
of the largest ports in Africa with increasing volumes of crude oil export. Delta Port,
Rivers Port and Onne Port are located in the oil and gas producing Niger River Delta
region. Delta Port Complex in Delta State includes the ports of Warri, Burutu, Sapele,
and oil terminals at Escravos, Forcados and Pennington (see Fig. 8.1). The Rivers
Port Complex in coastal Rivers State has Port Harcourt (see Fig. 8.1), Okrika Refined
Petroleum Oil Jetty, Haastrup/Eagle Bulk Cement Jetty, Kidney Island Jetty, Ibeto
Jetty, Macobar Jetty and Bitumen Jetty. Rivers State is also a principal petroleumproducing region in the country. Rivers State also has Onne Port Complex on Ogu
Creek near the Bonny River, 20 km from Port Harcourt. It has two major facilities,
the Federal Ocean Terminal and the Federal Lighter Terminal. The port has been
designated as an Oil and Gas Free Zone by the Government. It serves as the main
port for oil and gas operations with Western and Central Africa (Nwilo and Badejo
2001, 2007; Egberongbe et al. 2006; Wikipedia 2012b).
In all the SAR images of the Lagos area, many patches of anthropogenic pollution
are observed (Figs. 8.7 and 8.8). These are probably due to discharges of polluted
water from numerous ships anchored near the port. An example is presented in
Fig. 8.7 featuring an ASAR Envisat image on 5 April 2012 of the coastal zone of
Benin and Nigeria with a zoomed focus on the marine areas in the vicinity of Cotonou
and Lagos ports.
As usual, on SAR images ships are displayed as white bright dots. In front of
Cotonou, which is the economic capital and main port of Benin, we see a dozen of
large ships in the sea with a little oil pollution. The dark area to the right of the outlet
of the canal (see Fig. 8.7), which divides the city in two parts and links Lake Nokoué
and the Atlantic Ocean, is explained by biogenic films. These are found in the canal
plume and dampen gravity-capillary waves.
In front of Port of Lagos we see several dozens of ships with over 30 ship discharges of different size (Fig. 8.7). Total polluted area is estimated to 7 km
2 . Affected
by the local coastal current, they stretch out along the coastline. This area is much
more polluted than Cotonou Port. Westward of this outlined area we observe another
20 km long oil slick. Other coastal and open ocean areas on this satellite frame are
free of oil pollution (Fig. 8.7). A similar picture is observed almost on every Envisat
ASAR image of the Lagos area (Fig. 8.8). For example, in Fig. 8.8 we again observe
several dozen ships in front of the port and a dozen oil spills of different size around.
In the coastal region off the western Niger Delta, oil pollution has many different
causes. These include operational activities at sea oil platforms, bunker works at
oil terminals, ship discharges, and outflows from the river arms. All these types of
pollution are evident, for example, in Envisat ASAR images of 21 December 2011
(Fig. 8.5) and 28 March 2012 (Fig. 8.8). Beside anthropogenic pollution, the region
of the western Niger Delta has many locations where natural oil seeps in the sea.
Their ASAR patterns on the sea surface are typical of similar petroleum seeps in
other oil rich marine areas such as the Gulf of Mexico, Persian Gulf, Caspian Sea,
etc. (Lavrova and Kostianoy 2010; Lavrova et al. 2011).