Assessing the Effects of Oil Spill on Clean-up Workers and Communities’ Participation in Imo State Nigeria

Abstract

The problems associated with oil spill clean-up has been of burden to all oil spill stakeholders all over the world and the method of clean-up depends on the type of spill, the volume of spill, the location and weather at the time of clean-up. Generally, while the clean-up of oil spill on the sea involves the use of standard oil boom, foxtail skimmer and dispersion system mounted on an airplane, spill on land can be cleaned with high-pressure system, scooping, and in-situ burning. In Imo State, the clean-up was through in-situ burning, scooping and burying the oil. The communities participated in the clean-up as voluntary services and sometimes for financial gains. The study utilized mixed methods and a total of 376 correctly filled and returned out of 400 administered questionnaires were used and 13 interviews were conducted for this research. Purposive sampling method was utilized for the qualitative as it gave the researcher the opportunity to select informants with deep knowledge and experience coupled with willingness to release the authentic data required for the analysis of the study. The findings show that communities in Ohaji/Egbema and Oguta in Imo state Nigeria actively participated in oil spill clean-ups in their localities whenever there was spill and at the end of it, they suffered great psychological, health and other socio-economic impacts.