Liquid substance was a sludge from pressure testing – BOST on purported diesel leakage

The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) has discounted claims that a liquid substance that was said to have leaked from one of its pipelines located in the Eastern region was diesel oil.

This comes after a viral video shared on social media showed residents living in the Atimpoku area siphoning the substance after the pipeline located at BOST's 'Maame Water' depot was reportedly damaged.

BOST in a statement issued on December 18 however clarified that the reported liquid was a sludge consisting of water, dirt and fuel residue which was spilled following a pressure testing undertaken on a refurbished pipeline.

“The pipeline had been decommissioned from 2015 due to vandalism of the line by unknown assailants. This resulted in BOST resorting to the use of Bulk Road Vehicles, popularly known as tankers in the haulage of petroleum Products from the Tema to the Akosombo Depot for onward transmission using river badges to the Buipe Depot in northern Ghana.”

“Repair works on the pipeline commenced a year ago and was expected to be completed by the third quarter of the year 2022. Due to the impact of the construction of the Railway Line from Tema to Mpakadan in the Volta region, the line had to be re-routed which affected the completion time,” it explained.

BOST further noted that it commissioned the installation of a leak and intrusion detection system on the line for the safety and security of its operations after it was recommissioned.

“For a proper assessment of the degree of damage at the commencement of the repair works, water was pumped up the line to help with the full detection of all leakages for repairs."

“After the repair works, the company carried out a pressure testing of the line to be sure all the leakages detected have been rectified. It is this pressure testing which resulted in the pushout of a sludge in the Maame Water area which is being reported in the media. The sludge is a combination of water, dirt and fuel residue formed in the pipeline which was pushed out in the pressure testing,” BOST explained.

It also emphasized that the tanks at the Maame Water depot have been empty over the last couple of years adding that BOST had not pumped products up the pipeline since the repair works are yet to be fully completed for a hand-over and recommissioning.

“The exposed content of the line due to the testing has been foamed by the BOST Team with support from the Ghana National Fire Service and works are underway to ensure a clean-up of the area of the spillage," the statement added.

The company also assured that has been zero environmental impact as the spilled slop was contained within the drains in the area which happened to be choked.

“There was no spillage into the waterbodies around the area including the Volta Lake. The spills in the drains have been recovered with the support of the BOST team which has been on site since morning,” it noted.

The oil storage and transportation company however assured the public that the situation is under control adding that there are no financial cost implications of the said spillage since same was carried out to check the integrity of the repaired pipeline.



MA