EPA Speaks Of Oil Discovery In Bassa
By Mark N. Mengonfia
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says what is believed to be a discovery of oil in Grand Bassa is yet to be unidentified as oil.
Speaking on State Radio’s Super Morning Show on Thursday, the head of the team that visited the site, Rafael Ngunbu said, “For now, I can say it is unidentified” Mr. Ngunbu said they have collected the samples of the substance he described as “black substance” and have carried samples to their office.
According to him, the samples will be sent out of Liberia to three different labs to identified what that substance is.
Giving a detail of their findings, he said the substance is concentrated in one place and it is not causing any problems to underground water sources for now, but in time, it has the ability to cause pollution in the nearby places, create livelihood problems.
He informed the public that it is a hydrocarbon, it could be natural or something dumped there and it is on a land-space of about 300 meters.
It can be recorded that citizens of Grand Bassa County District one on the 5th of November, broke news of what is believed to be oil discovery and that citizens have been collecting hundreds of gallons of the substance with the believe that it is oil that has been discovered.
Mr. Ngunbu said the residents have been stopped for now until the government comes up with what the substance really is before further notice is served after 14 working days.
