Class action for prevention and mitigation of soots in Rivers State of Nigeria: lessons from other jurisdictions

Abstract

The residents of Port Harcourt and its environs recently experienced black substance, known as carbon or soot with dull brown particles produced by incomplete combustion of crude oil and other waste materials within the environs. Many residents, including the government are really concerned about the impacts of this substance on public health, and the ecosystem. This concern is germane because of the trans- boundary nature of carbon emissions, and coupled with the serious negative health impacts on the residents. For now, it is not quite feasible to quantify the magnitude of impacts because some impacts are temporary while others are irreversible. Being a novel occurrence in this part of the world, some traditional legal and regulatory frameworks did not anticipate this occurrence and are thus inadequate in addressing the problem. Similarly, private actions by aggrieved citizens had proven inadequate in redressing grave air pollution cases in Nigeria; hence the need for class action. The Rivers State Governments and other Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) in the state seemed overwhelmed with this development since the soot was first noticed in 2016 but not much have been done by the relevant agencies of government, to stem this menace. We argue that past efforts by these agencies have largely been episodic thereby occasioning serious havoc to human health and the ecosystem around Port Harcourt. The objective of this paper is to appraise the causes of soot in Port Harcourt, determine appropriate preventive measures and makes appropriate recommendations, drawing lessons from other jurisdictions.