Pipeline hemorrhage in Kibwezi: what is the truth?

Last Updated 10 years ago by Kenya Engineer

An opinion piece on the 12th of July 2016 by Philip Mwabe, an environmental consultant titled “Cost of basin clean-up raises eyebrows” raised very serious concerns regarding oil spillage on the aged Mombasa Nairobi pipeline in Kibwezi constituency. The environmental contamination is said to have occurred at Km 256 occasioned by a leakage on the line. 

The managing director of Kenya Pipeline Company in his response tragically employs a logical fallacy instead of tackling the grave issues raised. His piece “I’m disappointed that opinion writer didn’t declare his interest” appeared two days after Mwabes’. Ad hominem, the logical fallacy he employs involves attacking his opponents’ character instead of their arguments. He subtly casts doubt on Dr. Mwabes character as an individual who may just be bitter because he might have lost a tender with Kenya Pipeline Company without having to properly engage with the doctors’ arguments. While Sangs’ piece is dismissive the issues raised cannot be dismissed.

The press reported that some oil leaked from the KPC pipeline around River Thange in Kibwezi in May 2015. Traces of oil were noticed in the vicinity of heavy earth moving equipment excavating the ground for the construction of the standard gauge railway. KPC set in motion measures to tackle the occurrence while also distributing 553 bags of maize and 129 bags of beans to the affected villagers. 

At the heart of these polemics are the questions: what occurred or is it occurring? Was it a ‘pinhole’ or are there ‘perforations’ all along the pipeline that cuts across the county? Was the leak instantaneous or has it been and continues to leak? The pipeline could have been punctured by the construction activities resulting from the Standard Gauge Railways or the pipeline is so worn out with age that it has perforations and hence has been leaking the construction activities only exposed it.  The first case would suggest a localized problem the second a globalized problem of the line which would be challenging to tackle and devastating to the environment. 

The KPC MD says “On May 12, 2015 at 1845 hours, a KPC staff noticed evidence of petroleum products near River Thange at what was estimated to be KM 253 of the Mombasa-Nairobi pipeline. This was reported to the KPC’s Nairobi Terminal Control Centre and immediately, an emergency response team was dispatched to the scene, arriving at 1930 hours.  The leak point was soon after identified as KM 256 and the pipe section isolated at 2022 hours by closing the isolation valve. It was established at this point that the spill was emanating from a corrosion-assisted two-inch crack on the pipeline. The leak had started as a pinhole and progressed to a 2-inch crack, mainly because of the highly pressurised pipeline.”

When they finished this first bit of cleaning and repairs there still persisted reports of KPC products being sighted suggesting they had not done a thorough job or they did not know the extent of the spill.

“By the time the cleanup exercise was commencing in March 2016, an estimated 225,000 litres of the product had been lost and this was calculated based on the point at which pressure loss was detected in the pipeline to the point when the line had been depressurised to facilitate repair.” Adds Sang. How could KPC loose that much product if they constantly conduct data acquisition and monitoring along the pipeline? Besides what happened from May 2015 to March 2016

While Joe Sang maintains this is the first such oil spill Dr. Mwabe insists that at KPC “they do this all the time along the 40-year-old pipeline. There have been reported spills in Mariakani, Nakuru and many points along the 600km pipeline.” It would be interesting to see where the truth lies.

Another area of contention which has the greatest ramifications is the assertion from Mwabe that if the “pinhole or crack” happened in May 2015 as maintained by the MD then quarter a million litres of KPC product could have not percolated into the ground and onto the water level due to the slow nature of such percolation but if indeed it has then KPC is not entirely truthful or it does not know what it is dealing with.

While tenders are already awarded to clean the area and NEMA has already given a ‘Restoration Order’ to KPC. The way the government and its agencies handle such issues remain of vital importance to the country especially now that the country seeks to be an oil producing country. It is hoped that environmental damage, corruption and other vices commonly referred to as the oil curse don’t visit the developing oil industry.

While the locals have been quoted in the media saying the spill has gone beyond the 1400 metres claimed by KPC they have urged the company to move swiftly to clean up the environment and also compensate them.