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ADVICE TO SURESTREAM AND ITS GENERAL MANAGER KEITH ROBINSON ON OIL DRILING IN LAKE MALAWI Lake Malawi, an African great lake and the southernmost lake in the east African Rift valley lakes, third largest freshwater lake in Africa and eighth largest lake in the word ranging from 560km to 480km in length and estimated about 75km in width covering about 29,600 km2 with estimated volume of 8,400 km3 of water found between three countries namely Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique. The lake supports millions of people through fisheries resources and water and tourism. (Wikipedia) Recently the Malawi Government awarded a UK based Petroleum Company Surestream company licences to explore oil in Lake Malawi at blocks 2 and 3, which is the northern part of the country. The signing ceremony took place in October 2011 in Lilongwe. The Government allowed the company to carry out exploration because believes oil extraction and metals mining would solve the country’s fuel shortage problems and help it tide over the current economic crisis in Malawi. (Daily Times Newspaper of Wednesday, 28 December 2011) Thus this essay gives an advice to Surestream and its general manager Keith Robinson on the exploitation of oil in Lake Malawi. As an environmentalist Drilling in Lake Malawi would have significant long-term and short-term negative impacts on the lake’s watershed, regardless of the drilling method employed. Natural gas and oil leaks and spills can have extremely negative effects on the natural environment, both on and off shore. Past safety records from drilling sites across the world indicate that such accidents will take place, the difference can be how it will happen. The potential for accidental or routine release of drilling wastes into the environment is alarming. Releases can occur through containment failure, run-off, pipeline accidents, and direct discharge. Routine drilling wastes, such as drilling mud’s, cuttings, and produced waters, contain both profuse and varied toxic chemicals that pose significant risks to the environment. These risks to wildlife include developmental defects, shortened lifespan, and physiological CHINDIKANI KASEKA NYIRENDA- ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT

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[email protected] changes. Many of the toxic chemicals associated with oil and gas drilling can accumulate and magnify in the food chain. This poses a risk to aquatic organisms higher in the food chain, such as fish and birds. Furthermore, many of these chemicals tend to persist in the environment, leading to long-term, chronic exposure for aquatic organisms. On the other hand it also has an impact on the human’s health, impacts of leaks and spills are primarily local in nature, placement of wells onshore puts human health at greater risk from accidents, as well as from routine pollution and discharges. People can also be exposed to toxic chemicals from routine drilling wastes, such as drilling mud’s and cuttings. As pollutants from oil and gas drilling build up in the food chain, people who consume fish from Lake Malawi will be at serious risk of health problems such as genetic defects and cancer. Routine discharges and accidental spills of toxic chemicals from drilling sites can also contaminate the water of the Lake, thus contaminating a primary drinking water source for millions of Malawians. Some of these discharges, such as air emissions and runoff, are an unavailable consequence of oil and gas drilling. Discharge need not occur in the water to impact the water quality. In conclusion basing on the findings of this essay, oil drilling in Lake Malawi will pose unacceptably high environmental and public health risks. Many of these risks are inherent to the oil drilling process and, as such, cannot be mitigated by regulatory changes or management practices. As a result, it’s my recommendation to the Malawian government to permanent ban drilling in Lake Malawi and to then Surestream and its general manager Keith Robinson, they should stop their plans of extracting oil in Lake Malawi.

CHINDIKANI KASEKA NYIRENDA- ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT

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[email protected] Bibliography Waterways News: http://www.waterwaynews.com/ARCHIVE/2011%20NOVEMBER/2011%20NOVE MBER%2017/2011%20NOVEMBER%2017%20LAKE%20MALAWI%20GAS%20 AND%20OIL%20EXPLORATION%20WILL%20RUIN%20COMMUNITIES.html Time visited: 4th June 2012, 2:00pm Daily Times Newspaper of Wednesday, 28 December 2011 Malawi Voice: http://www.malawivoice.com/2012/03/28/oil-drilling-on-lake-malawiin-ten-years-81442/?share=email&nb=1&nb=1 Time Visited: 4th June 2012, 3:30pm Policy Archives’: www.policyarchive.org/handle/10207/bitstreams/5495.pdf time visited: 4th June 2012, 4:00pm

CHINDIKANI KASEKA NYIRENDA- ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT

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