Warri — The Department of Petroleum Resources, the watchdog of the oil industry in Nigeria, has stepped up efforts to monitor the activities of petroleum product marketers especially in the areas of setting up new retail outlets and managing existing ones.

The regulatory agency now demands an Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) for retail outlets popularly called filling stations or petrol stations. This is in line with the 2002 Environmental Guidelines and standards for the Petroleum Industry in Nigeria (EGASPIN), the Urban and Region planning decree 88 of 1993 as well as the Delta State Environmental sanitation Decree.

Similarly, the Department of Petroleum Resources has indicated its preparedness to ensure an effective management of the structural integrity of materials used for the manufacturing of storage tanks during and after installations. The current drive is to phase out pressure testing of old tanks with non-destructive leak detection testing methodologies

Delivering a talk at an interactive forum with petroleum marketers in Warri Zone recently , Mr. Iyabo Orubima of the safety and Environment Unit of DPR stated that the Environmental Impact Assessment Report will serve as a means of finding out the effect of sitting a petrol station in a given environment. In specific terms, the EIA Report assesses all actions or in actions which could impact significantly on the physical chemical, biological cultural and social environment. Above all, the report will also X-Ray the effects of setting up a petrol station on the health of the people who live in that environment.

Orubima explained that the EIA process begins with the mandatory notification to DPR of the marketer's intention to construct a retail outlet or depot in an area. This will be closely followed by the preparation and submission to the DPR of an Initial Environmental Screening (IES) and Preliminary Assessment of Impact Report (PAIR) by the marketer.

The preliminary report describes the proposed filing station project including its construction, operations, maintenance and abandonment details. It will also give the DPR an insight into the specific physical, chemical biological social- economic and health characterization of the site of the project.

"The DPR and the marketer would jointly review the PAIR report. The joint review would indicate whether the development would create significant effect or damages on the environment and human resources at the site and immediate surrounding of the project. If no significant effect or changes, the project would be approved with appropriate mitigating measures and post EIA monitoring.

"However, if the PAIR review identifies significant impacts the marketer and the DPR shall draw up a scope of work for a detailed EIA study. Samples of surface and underground water as well as soil and air are then collected from the project site and subjected to laboratory analyses. This implies that no activity is authorized at the project site until an EIA has been approved by DPR for that project" Orubima explained.

In order to avoid haphazard approach to a technical and specialized requirement such as the EIA, the Department of Petroleum Resources insists that the EIA be carried that by specialists who must be Environmental studies consultants approved by the DPR.

To this end, sixteen consultants have been accredited for use by marketers across the Warri Zone.

Although, the EIA is prepared by an inter disciplinary team of experts the collection of samples, laboratory analyses and quality control audits in the EIA process are to be executed with the active participation of DPR staff while final approvals are to originate from the Director, Petroleum Resources.

The Operations controllers, DPR, Warri Zone Mrs. Rose Ogra warned petroleum product marketers to adhere strictly to the rules and regulations as any further attempt to undermine DPR guidelines on the setting up of retail outlets would be met with appropriate sanctions.

Deregulation of the down stream sector of the industry, Ogra noted does not give licence to anyone to flout the rules. Marketers of petroleum products, she said, must not only be concerned with profit maximization but must endeavour to adopt the right procedures that would make their businesses environmentally friendly.

In an interview with THIS DAY shortly after the interactive session with marketers, the head of Public affairs Unit of DPR in Warri, Mr. Paul Ekele said the forum was just the beginning of a series of enlightenment campaigns to inculcate in the marketers, the legally acceptable ways of setting up or running of retail outlets in the county.

Ekele decried the practice by some marketers who set up filling stations, especially in the rural area without regards to standards and due process. He warned that while it may appear good to indulge in sharp practices and evade the law, it may boomerang on the long run when retail outlets set up without an approved EIA would begin to generate negative impacts on human lives, the environment and society at large.