Nigeria Exxon spill spreads for miles along coast

By Tife Owolabi. Reuters

IBENO, Nigeria | Sun Nov 18, 2012 2:51am EST

(Reuters) – An oil spill at an ExxonMobil facility offshore from the Niger Delta has spread at least 20 miles from its source, coating waters used by fishermen in a film of sludge.

A Reuters reporter visiting several parts of Akwa Ibom state saw a rainbow-tinted oil slick stretching for 20 miles from a pipeline that Exxon had shut down because of a leak a week ago. Locals scooped it into jerry cans.

Mark Ward, the managing director of ExxonMobil’s local unit, said a clean up had been mobilized, and he apologized to affected communities for the spill.

Exxon said last Sunday it had shut a pipeline off the coast of Akwa Ibom state after an oil leak whose cause was unknown. Read the full article

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