Following investigations into claims of lead pollution connected to recycled lead-acid battery facilities in the industrial neighborhood, the Ogun State Government has started a cleanup project in Ogijo.
The exercise followed a process audit of the recycling facilities and a series of tests on soil, water, air, and residents’ blood samples to ascertain the extent of the suspected pollution.
The Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency’s General Manager, Kehinde Bello, launched the exercise by announcing that the government had started removing dangerous slag that had been unlawfully disposed of in the neighborhoods around the recycling facilities.
“We will need weeks to finish the evacuation of this slag because it was illegally dumped in numerous communities surrounding the ULAB facilities.”
According to Bello, “the state government is determined to remove them in the general public interest and for the well-being of residents.”
He reassured them that the government had ordered all used lead-acid battery recycling factories to enhance their operations by installing automatic battery breakers in order to limit slag generation, and that the indiscriminate dumping of slag would no longer be permitted.
In order to avoid contamination in the future, he claims that the plants must also adhere to the state’s standard operating standards on slag management.
Speaking as well, Babatunde Lawal, OGEPA’s Director of Hazardous Material Management, stated that the cleanup process would go beyond slag evacuation to include the restoration of polluted soil.
Additionally, vegetation that will absorb any lead that may have contaminated the soil will be planted as part of a bioremediation exercise. This will guarantee that there is no longer any lead pollution in the locations where the slag was disposed of,” he stated.
In order to protect the environment and public health, Lawal advised battery recycling facility owners to operate in an ethical and sustainable manner.
Tunde Bolarinwa, OGEPA’s Director of Inspectorate and Compliance, stated that the organization would step up facility surveillance to guarantee full adherence to the state’s updated operating requirements.
“To make sure the ULAB facilities adhere to the state’s new operational guidelines, the agency will keep an eye on them. Bolarinwa stated that any facility that disregards the new guidelines will face sanctions.
Months after, it was revealed that the Ogun State Government established a 15-person Joint Monitoring Committee to investigate claims of lead contamination in the Ogijo region, the remediation took place.
The committee was set up to keep an eye on the operations of recycling facilities for spent lead-acid batteries, provide community-based supervision, and make it easier to report health issues related to the plants’ operations.
In order to improve adherence to environmental laws and protect public health, the state administration said during the inauguration that the committee will act as a liaison between host communities and pertinent authorities.
