1) Oil and gas exploration and production activities can significantly impact the environment through land use changes, pollution, and contamination if not properly regulated. Operational footprints can displace communities and wildlife through construction of infrastructure. 2) Emissions from these activities release gases and generate noise that pollute the atmosphere. A study found that in some areas, oil and gas operations are the dominant source of air pollution. 3) Wastes and accidental spills from onshore facilities risk contaminating the surrounding land and habitats. For example, a pipeline rupture in Michigan contaminated over 35 miles of a river and cost $800 million to clean up.

1. * Valentine Ataka is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and an LLM Oil and Gas Law Candidate (RGU). He is
also the Executive Director of the African Centre for Rights and Governance. His other works and comments on
energy issues can be reached at www.valataka.wordpress.com
The Environmental Red Flags of Landed Oil and Gas Exploration and
Production Activities- Valentine Ataka*
1.0 Introduction
The Oil and gas industry both onshore and offshore has come to be near
synonymous with environmental disasters and harm1
. To avoid or mitigate on some
of the environmental problems associated with the industry on land these are some
of the areas that a host government should look out for:-
2.0 Land Use Interruption
Operational footprints of E&P activities2
may result in significant alteration of land
use. Construction of seismic tracks, well pads, temporary residential quarters,
pipelines, storage facilities, access roads and rigs constitute the footprints.
Depending on the scale, the constructions and installations may cause displacement
of people and wildlife, deforestation and general distortion of terrestrial landscape3
.
This problem described as ‘oil-induced displacement’ is an environmental as it is a
social problem in among other countries, Ecuador (Amazon), Nigeria, Burma
Columbia and Sudan4
. It is currently the subject of a protracted petition by the Sani
Isla community in Ecuador who have been displaced by E&P activities in the
Amazon5
.
1
Makuch, K.E. and Pereira, R, Environmental and Energy Law, (Oxford, 2012)
2
IFC, ‘Summary of IFC EHS Guidelines- Onshore Oil and Gas’
https://www.estoolkit.com/DisplayResource.aspx?resourceId=479 accessed on 23rd
March
2013
3
Bogumil Terminski ‘Oil-Induced Displacement and Resettlement. Social Problem And
Human Rights Issue’ (Research Paper, School for International Studies, Simon Fraser
University, Vancouver, 2012) http://www.conflictrecovery.org/bin/Bogumil_Terminski-Oil-
Induced_Displacement_and_Resettlement_Social_Problem_and_Human_Rights_Issue.pdf
accessed 23rd March 2013
4
Ibid
5
The Guardian, Jonathan Watts ‘Petition to Halt Oil Exploration in the Ecuadorian Amazon
Gets 1 Million Signatures’ February 6th
2013

2. * Valentine Ataka is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and an LLM Oil and Gas Law Candidate (RGU). He is
also the Executive Director of the African Centre for Rights and Governance. His other works and comments on
energy issues can be reached at www.valataka.wordpress.com
Oil Exploration Site near Yasuni National Park, Ecuador6
3.0 Atmospheric and air pollution
O&G operations have the potential of polluting the atmosphere through emission of
effluent gases and operation noise. A study by the Cooperative Institute for
Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) in North-eastern Colorado has recently
noted that
‘oil and natural gas operations are the dominant wintertime source of certain
gasses, called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), that act as precursors—
‘starting ingredients’—for ozone pollution7
Such gas emissions are known contributors to climate change and may impact
of a country’s commitment to reduction of GHG emissions under international
frameworks such as the UNCFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, Copenhagen Accord and EU
reduction Commitments8
.
The noise emanating from O&G activities is also of concern. Such activities are
known to generate noise during seismic surveys, construction activities, drilling,
6
Courtesy WWF Global
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/amazon/problems/other_threats/oil_an
d_gas_extraction_amazon/ accessed 22nd
March 2013
7
J.B Gilma et al ‘Source Signature of Volatile Organic Compounds from Oil and Natural Gas
Operations in North-eastern Colorado’ (Environmental science and Technology, 2013)
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/es304119a accessed on 12th March 2013
8
Godfrey Boyle (ed) , Renewable Energy: Power for a Sustainable Future (OUP, 2012)

3. * Valentine Ataka is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and an LLM Oil and Gas Law Candidate (RGU). He is
also the Executive Director of the African Centre for Rights and Governance. His other works and comments on
energy issues can be reached at www.valataka.wordpress.com
aerial surveys and air or road transportation.9
Air pollution by O&G operations is
best illustrated in a video documentary, Poison Fire wherein the local community
give accounts of the devastating environmental consequences of gas flaring in the
Niger Delta.10
4.0 Land and habitat Contamination
The discharge and disposal of wastes from operation installations may harm the
surrounding land and its habitats resulting in degeneration of soil quality, death of
fauna and flora as well as expensive clean-ups11
. Examples of these harmful
wastes are listed by the EPA as ‘non-exempt wastes’ include hydraulic fluids, waste
solvents, produced water, fracturing fluids, unused drums etc.12
.
The operations may also result in spills from onshore facilities, including pipelines,
due to leaks, equipment failure, accidents, and human error. A case in point is the
July 2010 rupture of the Enbridge pipeline in Michigan said to be the worst on-land
oil spill in the history US. The US National Transportation Board Report indicated
that the spill had contaminated 35 miles of the Kalamazoo River waterway and
exposed 320 people to crude oil13
. The Clean-up exercise cost is estimated to have
been more than $800m.
9
Jacqueline Barboza Mariano ‘Environmental Impacts of the Oil Industry’ (EOLSS)
http://www.eolss.net/Sample-Chapters/C08/E6-185-18.pdf accessed 30th March 2013
10
Friends of the Earth International, Poison Fire 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bq2TBOHWFRc#! Accessed
20th
April 2013
11
E.G Carls, et al, ‘Soil Contamination by Oil and Gas Drilling and Production Operations in
Padre Island National Seashore’ Journal of Environmental Management (1995) 45, 273–286
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479785700758 accessed 4th April
2013
12
EPA, Exemption of Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Wastes from Federal
Harzardous Waste Regulations’ (EAP, 2012)
http://www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/industrial/special/oil/oil-gas.pdf accessed 3rd April 2013
13
Nation Transportation Safety Board ‘Enbridge Incorporated Hazardous Liquid Pipeline
Rupture and Release Marshall, Michigan: Accident Report’ (Adopted 10th
July 2012)

4. * Valentine Ataka is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and an LLM Oil and Gas Law Candidate (RGU). He is
also the Executive Director of the African Centre for Rights and Governance. His other works and comments on
energy issues can be reached at www.valataka.wordpress.com
Oil Spills Response Workers cleaning up Kalamazoo River, July 201014
5.0 Conclusion
While measures to ensure that the above environmental risks are avoided or
mitigated are important, it would also be necessary to contemplate the measures
that the IOC needs to take in the event that environmental damage does
occur either due to accident or as a natural consequence of E&P processes15
. It
would therefore be necessary to put in place regulations similar to the UK
Environmental Damage (prevention and remediation) regulations 2009 to ensure
that the IOC puts in place environmental damage and is in a position to meet the
liabilities for compensation and remediation in the event that damage does occur.
The expensive costs of restoring environmental damage16
should not be handed
down to the tax payers.
14
Courtesy of EHS Today http://ehstoday.com/environment/epa-more-work-needed-clean-
enbridge-oil-spill-kalamazoo-river
15
Zhiguo Gao, Environmental Regulation of the Oil and Gas Industries (CEPLMP, 1997) p30
16
For instance the Enbridge clean up exercise is said to have cost $800 Million (See above
n13)