Greenpeace, locals protest over gas leak off Senegal, Mauritania

By AFP

Greenpeace condemned BP on Thursday for a gas leak that has been ongoing for several weeks at a new field the British oil giant operates off Senegal and Mauritania.

The Mauritanian government said last week the leak had been discovered on February 19 at a well in the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) field, which was jointly developed by BP, US firm Kosmos Energy and the national hydrocarbons companies of Mauritania and Senegal.

BP confirmed the leak on Wednesday and said work was under way to repair it.

It is unclear how long the gas has been leaking from the GTA field, which Greenpeace Africa stressed was "home to the largest deep-water coral reef, a unique ecosystem in the world".

"A single spill can wipe out decades of marine biodiversity, contaminate food webs and destroy the habitat of hundreds of species," the environmental campaign group said.

"The impacts will extend far beyond the drilling areas, affecting species migration, marine reproduction and the ecological balance of the entire coastal region of Mauritania and Senegal."

Greenpeace accused BP of a "total lack of transparency" and said local communities on the West African coast had a right to know about risks to their environment and their survival.

BP said on Wednesday the gas was leaking at a "low rate of release" and it "currently" expected the environmental impact to be "negligible".

Transparency call

Greenpeace said BP should "immediately publish independent data on the true extent of this leak and the measures taken to address it".

It urged the governments of Senegal and Mauritania "to insist on complete transparency from BP and to establish robust systems for monitoring and mitigating environmental risks associated with gas extraction".

Last week, Senegal-based think tank LEGS-Africa said local people should be told about the cause, extent and impacts of the leak.

On Wednesday, local fishermen in the Senegalese coastal town of Saint Louis, close to the GTA field, issued a statement of protest.

"Our health, our resources and are lives are in danger -- threatened by a covert form of pollution whose impacts could be irreversible," the fishermen's association said.

"Fish stocks and the entire marine food chain are exposed to contamination that could wipe out years of conservation efforts and pose a long-term threat to the local economy," it continued.

The association criticised the Senegalese government for its silence on the matter.

The Mauritian environment ministry said last week it was working in "close collaboration" with the Senegalese authorities and an investigation was under way "to bring the situation under control and minimise the impact".

BP said on Wednesday that production activities were continuing at GTA's three other wells.

The field, which began operating on December 31, aims to produce around 2.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year.