LAGOS, AUGUST 8, 2016 – Mr Bola Shabi, General Manager, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), says that petrol stations in the state will soon be mandated to provide separate wells to prevent underground water pollution.Shabi, who gave the indication in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Lagos, said that underground water was polluted with chemicals and petroleum products.
He said that majority of the boreholes and wells in the state were contaminated with petroleum products.
He added that the agency came up with the decision to end contamination of underground water by ensuring that petrol stations provided monitoring wells.
“Most people don’t know the distance to dig their borehole or their well from their sceptic tanks so that when the tanks leak, it will not affect the water.
“This will also save the underground water from pollution.
“What we are doing now is mandating all the petrol stations in the state to put in place monitoring wells so that they can monitor their wells quarterly.
“This will enable them to see if there are leakages from their underground petroleum storage and checkmate such leakages from polluting underground water,’’ the general manager said.
He said the agency would carry out quarterly checks on petrol stations to detect if there were leakages and pollution, while water samples will be taken for laboratory analysis.
“There are a lot of petrol stations springing up now in Lagos and integrity tests are not done, so, we have to be careful.
“We expect the stations to put in place such provisions in six months from now,’’ he said.
Shabi disclosed that results of water samples which were obtained from eight LASEPA laboratories, showed traces of petroleum products with significant rise in hydrocarbon pollution in drinking water sources.
He advised residents to be careful in handling petroleum products such as engine oil near areas of their water supply.
The agency had said that water from boreholes and wells in about 20 local government areas in the state are toxic and pose probable health hazards to residents.
