WAPCO accused of failing to warn Aboadze residents

Aboadze (W/R) Sept. 25, GNA-Inhabitants of Aboadze in the Shama Ahanta East Metropolis, have accused the West Africa Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCO), of failing to warn them about its pressure testing and discharges into the sea.

They said the development had caused cold, coughs, diarrhoea, and difficulty in breathing and other health related problems to the residents.

The residents told GNA that between September 9 and 20, this year, they had to endure an odour which smelt like carbide and had a burning sensation in the throat emitting from the area and expressed worry that the Company did not caution them about the incidence. They also claimed that over 20 assorted fishes collected from the beach at Aboadze when the emission took place had all died and had a foul odour, and alleged that management of WAPCO had asked someone to collect dead fishes from the beach for burial without the knowledge of the community.

They said the individual was asked to record the type of fishes and date and time they were found on the shore among others. Mr. Paul N. K. Ackon, Secretary to the Aboadze Community through GNA called on WAPCO to compensation to the community said the act by the Company was socially irresponsible and a threat on the life of the inhabitants.

Mr. Ackon said the West and East portions of the pipeline instead of being light blue in colour had a brownish colour. He said some individuals who consumed dead fishes along the coast had severe diarrhoea accompanied by vomiting, while those who used the sea water for washing their buttocks at the beach experienced severe burning sensations.

He said the odour could be mostly felt during the evening and at dawn and this compelled many residents to re-locate to other areas far from the beach.

Mr. Ackon said the people had been asked to send any dead fishes found along the beach to the elders for proper disposal and to avoid getting closer to the Company's pipeline. He called on Government to send a medical team to the area to avoid the outbreak diseases.

Miss. Irene Heatcote, Acting Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told the GNA that personnel of the Agency were at Aboadze on September 19 and 20 to collect gas from the pipeline for testing at the EPA laboratory in Accra, using biocide, corrosion inhibitor and an oxygen scavenger.

She said after the cleaning which usually lasted for a month, the chemical must be released on a gradual basis into the sea. Miss Heatcote said the release of the discharge by WAPCO must meet EPA local guidelines adding that WAPCo had been advised to reduce the release of the liquid into the sea to minimise the impact on the community.

It would be recalled that on September 19, this year the management of WAPCo issued a press statement in Accra signed by Mrs. Harriet Wereko-Brobby, General Manager, Corporate Affairs, that it had learnt that inhabitants of Aboadze and Abuesi were inhaling an unpleasant odour close to its construction site at Aboadze. The statement said the company could not confirm the source of the odour but had tasked its Health, Environment and Safety Team to investigate.

According to the statement, WAPCO had also commissioned SGS Laboratories to conduct an independent investigation into the matter and report on it as soon as possible. The statement explained that WAPCO, as part of its activities to complete the gas pipeline, was currently discharging water previously used to pressure test the pipeline, into the ocean near these communities but said it could not confirm that the odour was from the discharge activity. "WAPCo wishes to assure the general public that a statement on its findings will be issued as soon as investigations are concluded," the statement added.