An Overview of Oil Spill Containment: The Niger Delta Perspective

Deliberate efforts have been made for over two decades now to mitigate the ruins of oiling in the Niger Delta by trying to build scientific bridges across her troubled waters. Beyond the data, this article seeks to inspire, at least in part, thoughts and discussion around oil spill research exploits and successes. “Containment” in this perspective stretches beyond clean-up and remediation, to nipping the bud of contentions arising from post-impact disputes. The unambiguous admission of forensic evidence through molecular fingerprints of oil discourages the incidents arising from induced-spills, knowing that sources of these spills are traceable via their genetic markers. Fresh and stale oil spills present contentious challenges of determining source-contaminant; abandoned sites with weathered spills, are difficult to distinguish from stale oil, due to their visible semblances of colour and sense of smell. These challenges can only be resolved with the use of genetic signatures. Biomarker signatures are considered valid for these purposes because they can detect the source of the spill on the basis that crude oils contain chemical fossils whose fate and origin can be detected by these biomolecules, which are ancient constituents of the fugitive oil. Within the stable carbon-carbon skeleton of these molecules are embodied their ancestral flora and fauna that were deposited during the sedimentary processes that generated the crude oil. Stable biomarkers (fingerprints) arising therefrom rely on the precursor-product relationship that exist between the source molecules. Therefore, should contentions arise, genetic markers can be to put to good use towards environmental justice and communal harmony. This further discourages activities leading to such contentions.