Toxic Floods? Climate, Natural Hazards and Risks to South Sudan’s Oil Infrastructure
Publisher: PAX
Author(s): Wim Zwijnenburg, Roberto Jaramillo Vasquez, and Jannis Hoch
Date: 2023
Topics: Climate Change, Data and Technologies, Disasters, Extractive Resources, Renewable Resources
Countries: South Sudan
The discovery and subsequent exploitation of oil fields in South Sudan has brought the country both wealth and woes. Armed conflicts and civil wars fought over control of oil fields have led to the killing of thousands, with many more wounded and displaced. Meanwhile, these conflicts have also resulted in long-term environmental implications from damaged oil infrastructure, especially with regards to local pollutants in and around oil fields.1 Following South Sudan’s independence in 2011, national legislation for the country’s oil industry, including environmental laws and standards, has faced serious problems due to lack of enforcement, a problem worsened by corruption. This has resulted in persistent pollution issues caused by a lack of maintenance, oversight, and crumbling oil infrastructure. Broken pipelines, leaking open-air oil waste pits, fires at wells, oil dumping and related chemical waste have all contributed to fears from local communities over the impact on their health, as ground and surface waters used for drinking and agricultural use are polluted. The expansion of oil production has also resulted in the displacement of local communities, with farmers and herders driven off their lands by growing infrastructure projects. Earth observation analysis has demonstrated the land change in the major oil blocks as a result.