CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The Nigerian economy depends largely on the petroleum industry for revenue generation and to drive its growth. However, the petroleum industry has been associated with major issues of accidents and disasters which have contributed to vast safety and Environmental problems. Exploration and exploitation of petroleum products has obvious implications to the natural Environment and human safety[1]. This is especially true for all sectors of the industry including the downstream.
On the other hand, Sudan is a very rich developing country and also endowed with vast potential in areas of petroleum, natural gas, and petro-chemicals industry, but since independence in 1956, Sudan went over many challenges and obstacles of environmental disaster increasing ecological changes during the last four decades[2], and this clearly can be traced to petroleum industry activities.
Conversely, emphasis on institutional strengthening efforts to set up a policy body driven by stringent regulations and strong law enforcement apparatus to control the activities of the oil industry against environmental degradation for both countries is paramount and it is against this back-drop that this study seeks to examine sanctions for breach of environmental laws in the Nigerian petroleum subsector: a comparative study of Nigeria and Sudan.
Oil exploration represents a major human activity in pursuit for an essential resource for modern life. But it ensues grave catastrophes if exploration and exportation of oil are not scientifically managed and controlled, and if the oil companies are not subject to a punctual back-to-back supervision, sanctions, definitely, there would be breach in environmental laws. Usually the exploration process runs through several stages, starting from the discovering and production, up to industrialization and transportation. Such stages require special precautions such as regulatory limitations or technical instructions[3].
The World has reached many agreements, conventions and protocols to boost up international efforts to emphasize issues related to environment and natural resources management. There are more than 100’s treaties and protocols issued. Among the main conventions relate to oil industry environmental impacts, are the convention concerning preservation of wet lands due to common international interests. It is known as "Ramsar", and was ratified in 1971. The main purpose of these conventions and protocols - bilaterally, regionally or internationally – is to assume protection of environment and persevering natural resources.
Ratification of such conventions and protocols is not sufficient, but instead the international society needs to abide to legislative, regulative and administrative rules stipulating execution, effectiveness and compliance with such agreements at the national level[4]. The environmental law is defined as “the legal system assigned to protect, develop and prevent damage to environment[5]”.
The issue of environment protection is regarded as one of the contemporary law systems, and a new issue in the compared law systems. This is because the right to have a clean environment is assumed to be ensued from the third claims of human rights. Such rights are grounded on social
cooperation which requires corporative interaction on the regional and international levels.
The objective of the environment protection law in oil industry is generally to organize the rules and mechanisms that maintain preservation of environmental elements which include nature protection and prevention of pollution, water and air protection, and preservation of maritime and coastal environment, natural reserves, soil and as well sanctions for offenders.
The regulations of environment protection generally include rules concerned with prevention of environment pollution, disposal of oil leakages and oil processing discharges as well as the rules concerning the prevention of any activity that might jeopardize environment and produce polluters. Besides, these laws and regulations organize environment protection mechanisms in terms of establishment of the competent authority which will be in charge of such mechanisms, and which will be entitled to define the environmental crimes and its due sanctions along with the procedures pertaining to managing the hazardous materials and wastes, and assessment of the environmental impacts[6].
1.2 Statement of the Study Problem
There is a natural law in architecture called “nature forgiving” whereby nature forgives man activities on environment, but there is another natural law called “nature not forgiving” where the mother nature reacts to man’s activities on earth[7].
The rate at which oil companies carry out their production, exploration activities and their effects on the environment calls for attention of government to put measures and control. Ahmed[8]averred that each year, over 6 million tons of CO2 are discharged to the atmosphere, due to burning of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal), thus leading to the release of sizeable quantities of various gases which cause the Ozone to expand and the environment to become more polluted.
It is pertinent to say that conducive environment is required by all living beings, including humans, livestock, plants, micro-organisms and wildlife for normal and healthy living. The favorable unpolluted environment has a specific composition. When this composition gets changed by addition of harmful substances, the environment is called ‘polluted’ environment and the substances polluting it are called ‘pollutants[9]’.
Most oil companies (Multinational Corporations) working in the developing countries give little consideration to the environmental safety and the environmental laws. The problem is that the consequences of the excavation operations will last some decades with potential destructive results and serious environmental hazards which include air pollution, oil leakages, associated digging liquids pollution to the soil and ground water, noise pollution, thermal pollution, and medical solid wastes at petroleum industry sites and it is against this background that this study seeks to examine sanctions for breach of environmental laws in the Nigerian petroleum subsector: a comparative study of Nigeria and Sudan.
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