The Ogun State Government has flagged off a remediation exercise aimed at freeing the industrial town of Ogijo, in Sagamu Local Government Area of the state, from all forms of lead contamination.

The General Manager of the Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency (OGEPA), Hon. Kehinde Bello, disclosed this in a statement obtained by the Nigerian Tribune on Sunday. He said the exercise would commence after a detailed process audit of all Used Lead Acid Battery (ULAB) facilities, as well as a series of tests on the soil, water, air and the blood of residents in the town.

The OGEPA boss said the state government had begun evacuating slag illegally dumped in various communities within the town because of its hazardous nature. He noted that the exercise would protect residents, many of whom are unaware of the dangers posed by the waste, from possible lead contamination.

“The evacuation of this slag will take us weeks to complete because large quantities have been illegally dumped in many communities surrounding the ULAB facilities. However, the state government is determined to evacuate them in the overall public interest and for the well-being of the residents,” he said.

He assured residents of the affected communities and the entire Ogijo community that the era of illegal slag dumping was over. According to him, the state government has directed all ULAB facilities to upgrade their operations by deploying automatic battery breakers, which will reduce slag generation to the barest minimum. He added that the facilities had also been directed to comply with the state’s standard procedures for slag management.

The Director of Hazardous Materials Management at the Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency (OGEPA), Mr Babatunde Lawal, said that, in addition to the evacuation of the slag, the government would carry out a bioremediation exercise by planting materials capable of absorbing lead from the soil. He explained that the exercise would ensure that areas where the slag had been dumped and subsequently evacuated would be restored and made free of lead contamination.

Lawal appealed to ULAB operators to conduct their activities responsibly and sustainably in the interest of environmental protection and public safety.

Also speaking, the Director of Inspectorate and Compliance at OGEPA, Mr Tunde Bolarinwa, said the agency would continue to monitor ULAB facilities to ensure compliance with the state’s new operational standards and guidelines. He warned that any operator who failed to comply with the new directives would face appropriate sanctions. (Nigerian Tribune)