Saturday, January 5, 2013

THE RICH ALSO CRY "When investment becomes a curse"


After medical tests showed that residents of Adekunle Fajuyi Estate, off Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja, Lagos, had unusually high metal toxicity in their blood, urine and water, TOYOSI OGUNSEYE reports that they are now afraid for their lives
Last week, Mr. Adebayo Balomo retired the only coconut tree in his compound for good. It was a tough decision for the septuagenarian. For 15 years, the tree had served him, his family and friends well, providing sweet coconuts.
“That coconut tree has been there for about 15 years and I eat the fruit all the time. I entertain my visitors with it,” he said.
But Balomo said he had to take the decision after seeing the results of the medical tests carried out on the residents and flora of Adekunle Fajuyi Estate.
Residents of the estate, an upscale community in the heart of Lagos, had accused a nearby steel factory, Universal Steels Limited, of polluting their bodies, air and water with dangerous metal gases.
SUNDAY PUNCH had paid for the medical tests carried out at the Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Lagos.
The tests showed that the residents and the flora, including Balomo’s coconut tree, had killer concentrations of gaseous metals in them.
Balomo, the estate’s oldest resident, is yet to recover from the shock.
He said, “For the test to show that the coconut I have been eating for years is contaminated is depressing. That means that I have been feeding my family and my visitors with poisonous fruit.
“I am an old man now, but what about the young ones whose bloodstreams are now contaminated? I am worried.”
The worries expressed by Balomo were also shared by all the residents. It was learnt that some residents who did not partake in the tests later went to private medical laboratories to ascertain the concentration of metals in their bodies.
They did this after seeing the results of the SUNDAY PUNCH-sponsored tests.
The medical assay had shown that all the tested 16 residents had very high concentrations of chromium, cadmium, zinc and iron in their bloodstreams. In some of these residents, the concentrations of metals were 10,000 per cent higher than the levels that the World Health Organisation considers safe.
The heavy metal contamination was also extremely high in borehole water, well water and coconut water samples found in the estate.
The head of the team that conducted the tests, Prof. Albert Ebuehi, described the results as “alarming” and urged the residents to relocate to save their lives.
Ebuehi stated that apart from the residents getting medical treatment, a permanent solution must be found to the pollution in the environment.
“They need to see a toxicologist that will treat them for the metal toxicity. But even if they are receiving treatment and they are still exposed to the gases from the company, it defeats the purpose of the medication,” he said.
‘What do we do now?’
When our correspondent visited the estate last Tuesday, the air was thick with despair.
At the Ademolas’, the worry was palpable. And it was for a good reason: the house where the Ademolas have lived for 16 years lies directly in front of the discharge roof of Universal Steels Limited. The fumes from the company’s huge machines are discharged through this roof.
Not surprisingly, all the blood and urine samples of the four members of the Ademola family tested positive to metal toxicity. A visibly worried Mrs. Ademola said the test results had dampened the joy of her family.
She said, “Since we got the result of the test, we have been very sad. It was a huge shock to us. My two sons got asthma when we got to this estate. I wrote letters to the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, the Lagos State Ministries of Health and Environment, reporting the activities of Universal Steels. But I did not know how bad the situation was until we saw the results of the tests.
“We have gone to see our family doctor who is a general practitioner. He was dazed when we showed him the results. He said the matter was beyond him and he referred us to a toxicologist who gave us several medical procedures to adopt.”
For Mr. Mohammed Yusuf, moving out of the estate is the only alternative.
He said, “I planned to relocate from this estate, but the tests have made up my mind for me. Even my water treatment plant has large deposits of iron. I am going. I have increased the tempo of construction work in my new home and I just have a few weeks to spend in this estate.
“This is my house and I know that no one may be willing to buy it from me because everyone now knows we inhale poisonous gases, but I don’t care.”
Class action
Shortly after SUNDAY PUNCH published the test results last week, some residents of the estate got together and mulled the idea of a future class suit against Universal Steels. Others are not willing to wait.
Mrs. Ademola fumed, “I will treat myself and my family, but we will meet in court. The estate association is talking about a class action suit, but I will not wait for that. I will take them to court independently and still partake in whatever the estate decides.
“I have spoken to my lawyer and Universal Steels will be hearing from me soon. They are the only steel factory in this place and my home faces them directly. The medical investigation showed that members of my family had excess iron, cadmium, zinc and chromium in our blood and they expect me to keep quiet? I won’t!”
Another family that has plans to sue Universal Steels is the Okon family. Its patriarch, Mr. Michael Okon, said the result of the medical test was enough proof that the residents had been right all along.
He said, “We are going to court. What other evidence do we need apart from the medical tests? We have lived here for 12 years and where we were living before, there was no factory. So, the company cannot tell us that our systems got contaminated from somewhere else. I am ready to show the court where I was living before. Moreover, 16 people in the estate were randomly selected for the test and we all had metal toxicity in our systems. It shows that there is something wrong with where we live.
“Every day for 12 years, I was exposed to the gases from Universal Steels. I will wake up in the morning and blow out soot that settled in my nose overnight. My throat would be filled with dark substances. My daughter and granddaughter have breathing problems. My daughter even had to relocate from here when it got really bad. The gases killed all my plants. I have pictures as evidence.
“The estate is talking about a class action suit, but I am not going to wait for that. I have spoken to my lawyers. We are going to court after the New Year holiday.”
Poisonous gases everywhere
Across Nigeria, the problem of poisonous gaseous pollution is widespread. Shortly after SUNDAY PUNCHpublished the story of the state, the newspaper’s email was inundated with mails from readers who lamented that affected communities were often abandoned by government agencies.
One of the readers, James Nduka, wrote: “I live within the Adeniji-Abisogun Leigh Estate, off Wempco Road, Ogba, Lagos. There are two metal manufacturing companies there. We moved there in 1984 and residents in my estate have had several battles with these Chinese companies. We have written several petitions to the state government and appropriate ministries, but we got very little result. There was a time one of the companies was sealed off, but that action was short-lived, as they re-opened a few months later.
“The fumes they emit are toxic and poisonous. Most of our plants and guava trees ended up with black spots before dying. When these companies emit their gases in the evenings, residents have to hurriedly shut their windows, blocking proper ventilation. Only God knows what damage it has caused the residents there. Our sky in this area is normally dark grey because of the pollution.”
Mr. Lanre Ibitoye, a resident of a heavily industrialised part of Ikorodu, also wrote to SUNDAY PUNCH. He said, “If the blood, urine and water of residents in Adekunle Fajuyi Estate are contaminated because of one steel company, you can only imagine our fate. There are so many metal-manufacturing companies in our area. We have written several letters to government that the emissions are killing us, but no one cares about our petitions. If the media are not involved, government will not do anything.”
In other parts of Nigeria, the story isn’t different. In Zamfara State, lead poisoning from the operations of mining companies led to the death of 150 children last year. Residents of some Plateau and Nasarawa communities have long complained of their exposure to the radioactive emission of mining companies. In Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State, communities close to huge quarrying companies complain that the lives of residents are made miserable by the vibrations and flying stone pellets from quarrying activities. In the Niger Delta, oil producing communities are always battling with oil companies over oil spills.
Figures from the United Nations Environment Programme also show that pollution and the inevitable conflict between communities and businesses happen all over the world. UNEP estimates that more than one billion people are exposed to outdoor air pollution annually, with the majority being in Africa. Studies have also linked urban air pollution to one million premature deaths and one million pre-native deaths each year.
UNEP also says that rapid urbanisation has resulted in increasing urban air pollution in major cities, especially in developing countries. It is estimated that air pollution costs approximately two per cent of Gross Domestic Product in developed countries and five per cent in developing countries.
Investment or curse?
A few days after the first part of the story was published, the Lagos State Public Advice Centre, an agency under the Ministry of Justice, called our correspondent and said it wanted to find a lasting solution to the pollution in the estate.
The agency met the residents of the estate last week and asked them to submit their complaints against Universal Steels. The residents confirmed that they were at the agency where they were asked to sign some documents.
However, residents and communities affected by industrial pollution often accuse government of being reluctant to implement environment laws in order not to scare away investors.
As a developing country, Nigeria’s economy relies heavily on Foreign Direct Investment. Some of these investments come in the form of manufacturing businesses promoted by companies like Universal Steels.
According to the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, Nigeria has been rated as the 11th emerging economy of the world and, as a result of this growth, it has attracted huge foreign direct investments. In 2011, the total FDI value was $8.9bn.
For the Chief Executive Officer, Occupational Health and Safety Managers, Mr. Ehi Iden, the huge inflow of capital into the economy is sometimes detrimental to the health of citizens.
Iden said, “It is not enough for the Federal Government to keep asking for foreign investment without caring about Nigerians. If we make so much money from these manufacturing companies and Nigerians are dying because of the pollution that emanates from these companies, what is the benefit of investments then?
“Most of these companies come here, treat Nigerians the way they like, pollute the environment and nothing happens. They hardly care about the welfare of their employees and they pay peanuts. I have handled so many cases where casual workers in manufacturing companies were maimed for life and nothing happened.
“Government should be very strict with companies like Universal Steels, but that is not the case, unfortunately. It is either government relocates the company or relocates residents of Adekunle Fajuyi Estate. And if they must live in the same environment, the company must be made to build a big chimney that will direct its gases directly into the air.
“Then we have to talk about compensation too. Who will bear the cost of the remediation in the estate? Who will pay the bills of the residents that need the metals flushed out of their systems, water and soil? These are the things a responsive government should be looking at. If the people in the estate have metal toxicity in their bodies, then the employees in these factories must be worse off.”
Already, a Non-Governmental Organisation, Environmental Rights Action, has announced plans to organise a protest rally against Universal Steels.
The Head of Media, ERA, Philip Jakpor, said the protest would further sensitise government to the plight of the residents and possibly bring about a lasting solution to the pollution in the estate.
He said, “We are going to protest in front of the steel company after the New Year break. This cannot go on. We will involve other NGOs and the media.”
Beyond protests and agitation, stakeholders have said only the overhauling and the effective implementation of existing environmental laws will save the situation.
Jakpor said, “We have so many environmental laws, but they are not all-encompassing. Some of them are as old as when Nigeria got its independence. We have some recent ones, but they are restricted to different industries like environmental laws that deal with gas flaring, oil and gas, tobacco, etc. And these laws are abstracts from international treaties. The laws should be domiciled in the ministry of environment.
“We don’t have one comprehensive document we can call Nigeria’s environmental law. And that is where the problem is.”
At long last…
On Friday, some respite finally came the way of the residents of Adekunle Fajuyi Estate. The Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency said it had sealed off Universal Steels because of the harm it had caused the residents.
The General Manager, LASEPA, Mr. Adebola Shabi, in an electronic mail, said the closure followed the reports by SUNDAY PUNCH and complaints of the residents.
According to him, the agency had investigated similar complaints against the company in 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2012, while it had sanctioned the company twice.
He said, “The attention of LASEPA has been drawn to the contents of SUNDAY PUNCH’s publications of December 16 and 23, 2012 respectively on the issue of emission of fumes from Universal Steels Limited, an iron and steel manufacturing company.
“In the publication, various grave allegations were made against the company by the residents on the effects of the emission on their health and wellbeing.
“The agency is aware that there are health impacts of the emissions from such facilities on human health. Apart from the climate change impact, the emission of sulphur oxide, nitrogen oxide, methane hydrocarbons and particulate matter into the environment results in various respiratory problems, including asthma.
“Earlier, the company submitted environmental impact assessment reports in 2006, 2008 and 2011. It has also installed some abatement plants.”
Shabi said the company would not be reopened until it had fulfilled all the promises it made in the recent Memorandum of Understanding it signed with the residents and LASEPA.
He added, “We will ensure that the company subsequently develops a comprehensive environmental management plan, which will be vigorously monitored and implemented. A post-impact assessment of the effects of the emission on the environment will be undertaken and the appropriate remedial strategies recommended will be implemented.
“We will conduct a comprehensive review of existing reports on the blood and urine tests of the residents, while Universal Steels will be encouraged to carry out remedial works within the estate, including the planting of new species of trees aimed at improving the quality of air within the estate.”
The residents said even though they were happy about the sealing off of Universal Steels, the company had been sealed off previously, without the company taking steps to stop the pollution.
The Chairman of the residents’ association, Chief Taiwo Ojora, who was the only resident that allowed his real name to be used, said, “We are glad the company has been sealed off, but that is not the permanent solution, because they are going to reopen. They promised to take measures against releasing their poisonous gases into the atmosphere in the MoU we signed with them, but those are temporary measures. We need government to find a permanent solution to the pollution of our bodies, water and soil.”
Editor’s note: The names of all residents who spoke to Sunday PUNCH are withheld to protect their privacy.
Punch Nigeria

THE RICH ALSO CRY "Killer Metal in the Blood"

Universal Steels Limited
In this second part of a three-part series, TOYOSI OGUNSEYE reports that medical tests conducted on 16 residents of Adekunle Fajuyi Estate, off Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja, Lagos, who are exposed to fumes from Universal Steels Limited, revealed heavy metals in their blood, urine and water that could lead to death
On any weekday, the air over Universal Steels is certain to be thick with sooty fumes. These fumes are at the centre of a dispute that has pitted the company against the residents of an upscale estate in the heart of Lagos.
Residents of Adekunle Fajuyi Estate accuse the company of polluting their homes and environment with the heavy gases emanating from its huge machines. These gases, they add, are also responsible for the high incidence of cancer and respiratory ailments in the estate.
When our correspondent visited the company to get its side of the story, a company representative, Mr. David Igwe, was quick to dismiss the allegations.
Igwe said, “There is nothing like that. It is not true. We have an abatement plant that takes care of the gases we emit. We bought the plant two years ago and the Lagos State government was here during the launch.
“Go to the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency and they will tell you what we have done. We don’t pollute the environment and there is no estate that is affected by our operations.”
The test
In late November, 16 of the residents agreed to SUNDAY PUNCH’s request for a series of blood and urine tests that would either validate their allegations or confirm the company’s innocence.
The tests were to determine the heavy metal concentrations in the residents’ blood systems and ascertain if they were within safe thresholds.
For the tests, researchers from the Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, randomly selected16 residents who had lived in the estate for a minimum of seven years.
The team got 15 blood samples and 14 urine samples — one of the 16 residents did not give blood, while two declined to submit urine samples. Samples were also taken from borehole water, well water and a coconut from a 15-year-old coconut tree. SUNDAY PUNCH paid for the tests.
Killer metals in their blood
At the end of three weeks, the results were ready. The researchers published their findings in a 10-page report. The report showed that the concentrations of chromium, cadmium, zinc and iron in the blood of the residents of Adekunle Fajuyi Estate were much higher than the levels permitted by the World Health Organisation.
The head of the team that conducted the tests, Prof Albert Ebuehi, described the results as “alarming.”
He warned that the residents’ blood had “heavy metal toxicity” which posed serious health risks.
According to him, the test showed that the urine and blood of the residents were contaminated with chromium, cadmium, zinc and iron.
Ebuehi stated that the highest and lowest values of iron in the plasma of the tested residents were 8,067 per cent and 565 per cent respectively and were higher than the WHO permissible levels.
The cadmium level in the most contaminated resident among those tested was 130,000 per cent greater than the WHO acceptable level. The least contaminated individual had cadmium concentration that was 327 per cent, higher than the normal value of 0.0011mg/L.
According to professor, the levels of chromium in the tested residents were also ‘alarming.’
The 16 residents also had high zinc toxicity in their plasma. The highest value of zinc was 146 per cent, greater than the permissible level of 1.1mg/L, while the lowest was 7.3 per cent greater.
The trend was the same with the urine tests. The highest value of iron in urine was 4,963 per cent, greater than the WHO acceptable level while the lowest was 205 per cent.
For cadmium in urine, the highest value was 130,000 per cent, greater than the permissible level of 0.0011mg/L, with the lowest being 46,363 per cent.
The highest value of zinc was 143.6 per cent, higher than the WHO permissible level, while the lowest was 5.5 per cent.
The heavy gas contamination was also extremely high in borehole water, well water and coconut water samples found in Adekunle Fajuyi Estate.
The report stated that, “A final revelation became more glaring when these heavy metals were identified and determined in the coconut grown and harvested within the same vicinity. The metals in the coconut water were abnormally high and unsafe for human consumption.
“Heavy metals could enter coconut water through soil or water contamination. The metals have also affected the quality of the water in the environment. They were detected in heavy quantities.”
Killing them softly
Ebuehi, an ordinarily unflappable academic, was so alarmed by the results that he advised residents to “leave the estate as soon as possible.”
He said, “They must not eat any fruit grown in the area; all their plants are contaminated because of the pollution of underground water. Already, the offspring of the 16 residents sampled are likely to have the heavy metals too. That may lead to generations of families with toxic metals in their systems. They have to leave that place for their own good.”
Speaking on the likely effects of the metals that the residents have inhaled, Ebuehi said, “Inhalation of cadmium-containing fumes can result in metal fume fever, but may progress to chemical pneumonitis, pulmonary oedema and death.
“Also, high levels of free ferrous iron react with peroxides to produce free radicals, which are highly reactive and can damage DNA, proteins, lipids and other cellular components. Excess iron damages the heart, liver and elsewhere and this can lead to coma, metabolic acidosis, shock, liver failure, coagulopathy, respiratory distress syndrome, long-term organ damage and even death.
“Chronic toxicity of zinc may produce gastric ulcer, pancreatitis, anaemia, nausea, vomiting and pulmonary fibrosis. Acute toxicity is manifested as fever and anaemia. Lead was not detected in the test.”
‘Fatal without treatment’
In 1996, a team of medical scientists in India released the result of a study on the link between metal gases and gall bladder disease and cancer. The study was done over a year on 96 patients with gall bladder diseases at the University Hospital, Varanasi, India.
The study concluded that the metal toxicity in the patients was caused by the dangerously high concentrations of heavy metals in drinking water in the regions where the patients lived.
The team leader, Professor V.K. Shukla, wrote that, “The two regions lie down stream of the river Ganges, which is the main source of drinking, bathing, and irrigation water in this part of India and receives untreated domestic sewage and industrial and agricultural effluent.
“High concentrations of cadmium have been reported in sewage, irrigation water and vegetables grown in the area; and higher concentrations of heavy metals than recommended by the World Health Organisation have been reported in water from this region. Heavy metals as environmental pollutants have been implicated in human carcinogenesis.
“These metals, especially cadmium, are excreted and concentrated in the hepatobiliary system. These metals are known as chemical carcinogens, so the high biliary concentrations of these metals in carcinoma of the gall bladder may be a factor in this cancer.”
A consultant surgeon based in Lagos, Dr. Sylvester Ikhisemojie, agreed with this research. According to him, excess cadmium has been linked to both cancer of the urinary bladder and stomach.
He said, “A man who inhales a large dose of cadmium is not in much risk as one who does so in small amounts steadily over many years.
“Because cadmium is so toxic, even minimal exposure to dust can be extremely damaging to the body — the kidneys can shrink up to 30 per cent of their mass. Accumulation of cadmium in the lungs can cause pulmonary oedema. It is fatal without treatment. In its milder form, cadmium toxicity can cause flu-like symptoms of cough, catarrh conjunctivitis, bronchitis and lung fibrosis. Chronically, excess cadmium causes bone softening (osteomalacia) and bone brittleness (osteoporosis), leading to deep-seated pain and easy fractures.”
Ikhisemojie added that high concentrations of zinc can cause muscle cramps, headaches, blurring of vision, severe weakness and convulsions, while chromium causes “different types of bronchitis (severe respiratory disease), asthma, conjunctivitis, passage of blood in stools and lung cancer.”
As for iron, he said, “In excess amounts, it accumulates in the liver, which is the organ for detoxification and interferes with its cellular functions so adversely that the liver begins to shrink in a process known as liver chirosis. This will ultimately poison the organ leading to liver failure, as the majority of its cells have been made abnormal by the presence of excessive iron.”
A climatologist, Professor Temiloluwa Ologunorisa, of the Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research, Osun State University, Osogbo, reiterated the opinions of the medical doctors.
According to Ologunorisa, apart from the gases which the residents inhale in dry form, rainfall converts the gases to wet form, which are washed to the ground surface including roof surface.
He said, “The gases undergo some chemical reactions after combining with rain water to form more dangerous substances. Ultimately, some of the gases or substances formed are carcinogenic, and others can cause respiratory ailments.”
Another professor of climatology, Olukayode Oladipo, said apart from the heavy metals detected during the research, emissions from the steel company include iron oxides, sulphur oxides, calcium oxides, hydrocarbons, carbonaceous compounds and chlorides.
He said, “It is therefore not surprising that high levels of chromium, cadmium, zinc and iron are found in the people living in the area. It is also not surprising that the water, air and soil around the industrial site have been contaminated with the series of emissions mentioned above.
“Operations of the industry must have some local effects on the thermal conditions (temperature) of the local environment. It will be interesting to find out if the temperature conditions around the steel company is higher than the surrounding environment to generate what we call urban heat island.”
Living in denial
When our correspondent told Igwe that there was evidence of the pollution from the company, he sidestepped the question and retorted, “We know how we settle journalists.”
He then left in a hurry, after promising to give the reporter another appointment. A subsequent text message to Igwe for the promised appointment was not replied. Our correspondent called him again; a man that sounded like Igwe picked the call but claimed it was a wrong number.
“Please, check the number you are calling. You must have a wrong number,” he said.
Residents said representatives of the company once told them that the area was mapped as an industrial estate, hence they had no reason to complain.
A resident, Mohammed Yusuf said, “That argument cannot stand. Even if they got here before us, does that mean that they should not be socially responsible? The government gave us approvals to live here as a residential estate. So, they cannot claim that because they were told that it was an industrial estate, they should be killing us gradually with poisonous gases.
“Even in developed counties like America and Britain, people live very close to so many manufacturing industries and these companies are very responsible. You don’t see the companies directing poisonous gases at the residents. They build high chimneys and direct their gases very far into the air. That is possible because they have a responsible government. But it is not the same here.”
The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Lagos State, Mr. Toyin Ayinde, said Universal Steels could not excuse polluting the environment on the grounds of physical planning.
He said, “The Ogba area estate has both industrial and residential components and it is not unusual that they are so located. We have to return to the industrial safety laws. Does a man have a right to operate an industry at the expense of the people who are almost certainly his own clientele? I think not.
“This is where the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and its agencies have a role to play, for they are the regulatory bodies to ensure that industrial effluent is controlled and environment-friendly.”
Drama at LASEPA
The government agency responsible for environmental matters in Lagos is the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency. LASEPA, by law, is expected to monitor, manage and protect the Lagos State environment from all forms of degradation arising from solid, liquid and gaseous waste.
The agency is also empowered by law to arrest persons, seal premises and seize items being used in the perpetuation of any offence.
When our correspondent met the General Manager of LASEPA, Mr. Adebola Shabi, the agency said it was not aware that Universal Steels was polluting the environment.
He said, “We were there two years ago to commission the abatement plant. I always use the company as an example for other manufacturing companies. We shut them down some years ago but after that, they bought the plant to take care of the greenhouse gases they emit. Apart from the harm they cause to humans, these gases deplete the ozone layer and cause climate change. The company takes care of the gases they emit. I am not aware that any person is suffering poor health due to gases from the company.”
When SUNDAY PUNCH insisted that there was evidence that the company emits gases with high metal concentrations every day apart from Sundays, Shabi raised a four-man team to investigate the allegation.
The following day, our correspondent led the LASEPA team to Adekunle Fajuyi Estate where they took pictures of thick emissions from the company that was settling in peoples’ homes. They also spoke to the residents.
After spending some hours in the estate, the team decided to go to Universal Steels to confront its officials with the evidence.
On getting to the company, Igwe was not pleased to see our correspondent with the team.
He said, “Government should not be conniving with the press. LASEPA is a regulatory agency that monitors the environment and I see nothing wrong with the agency paying a visit to the company. But you should not be partnering press while conducting your duties.”
At this point, the team asked our correspondent and the photojournalist to excuse the two parties.
Thirty minutes later, Igwe and the LASEPA officials came out and said they were going on a tour of the company’s facilities. Igwe said our correspondent and a female member of the team could not go on the tour because they had a pair of sandals on. SUNDAY PUNCH’s photojournalist was also not allowed on the tour, even though he wore a pair of covered shoes.
When the LASEPA officials and Igwe returned from the tour, the company representative crowed to our reporter, “I have shown LASEPA round, you can ask the agency all you want to know. They will tell you.”
On leaving the premises, the team told SUNDAY PUNCH that the company said it had only been emitting the gases for about two weeks and that it had bought some equipment to fix its leaking roofs and pipes.
Memorandum without understanding
Three days after the SUNDAY PUNCH’s visit, residents got an invitation from LASEPA for a meeting with the company on December 3.
At the end of the meeting, both parties signed a memorandum of understanding. A copy of the MoU, which was obtained by our correspondent, stated that Universal Steels agreed to “fix its faulty furnaces, repair its dilapidated roofs, and start a remedial measure.”
It also promised to replace the filtration bags of the abatement plant in two weeks and install a hood and blower to filter the emission. It agreed to alert LASEPA within 24 hours of breakdown and be financially responsible for the cost of any remediation work that may need to be done to abate the nuisance and restore the damaged environment.
The steel company promised in the MoU to complete its factory maintenance before the second week of January.
However, a few days after the MoU was signed, the residents told SUNDAY PUNCH that Universal Steels was still polluting the air with the poisonous emissions in the middle of the night