Ogijo Pollution: Federal Government Meets Recyclers, Threatens Licence Revocation

The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) has threatened to revoke the operational licences of recycling facilities who refuse to comply with the agreed protocol for remediation of Ogijo Community in Ogun State .

The director-general of NESREA, Prof. Innocent Barikor, gave the warning of Tuesday during a meeting with recyclers whose facilities were sealed in a recent clampdown on recalcitrant facilities in the South-West Zone of the country.

Nine facilities operating in the battery recycling sector in Ogijo were sealed for causing environmental pollution in the community through poor slag management, manual battery breaking, uncontrolled lead dust emissions, lack of workers’ health surveillance, among others.

Prof. Barikor stated, “the enforcement action was taken as a necessary first step to safeguard lives and restore environmental integrity. Facilities will remain sealed until verifiable corrective actions are taken.

“What we have at present is anarchic and not sustainable. This is your opportunity to reset, to demonstrate responsibility and to bring your facilities into full compliance. NESREA has shown patience in the past, but that window is closing.”

Prof. Barikor further directed that the operators commit to addressing facility specific environmental/operational concerns, observe the penalties for indiscriminate dumping and non-compliance and take steps towards adopting cleaner technologies.

In his intervention, the Director, Hazardous Materials Management and Environmental Safety for Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency (OGEPA), Lawal Babatunde, accused the recyling facilities of failing to abide by guidelines set out by the State Government for the evacuation of slag from the community.

Present at the meeting were the executive secretary of the Alliance for Responsible Battery Recycling (ARBR), Mrs. Miranda Amachree, and operators of facilities in the battery and base metal recycling sector.