Gas Explosion in Nigeria

Fast Facts Nigeria is Africa's leading oil producer, the world's seventh-biggest exporter and fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports.
(AP)







Gasoline gushing from a ruptured pipeline exploded Friday as villagers scavenged for fuel, setting off an inferno that killed up to 200 and left charred bodies scattered around the site in this oil-rich country of mostly poor people. Grim-faced rescue workers swung corpses into a mass grave as dozens of other scorched bodies awaited collection. It appeared some victims tried to flee the unfolding disaster only to be overtaken by flames spreading across the fuel slick. The stark outlines of white skeletons lay against a beach charred black by fire. Other bodies floated alongside dozens of plastic jerrycans in the nearby waters of the coastal mangrove swamp. The jerrycans, which had contained pilfered gas, were twisted by the heat of the explosion. More than 1,000 people in Nigeria, Africa's oil giant, have died in recent years when fuel they were pilfering from pipelines caught fire — and officials said it would likely happen again. "Because this thing has happened many times before, we thought it would be a deterrent, but apparently it wasn't enough deterrent for these people who died," said Lagos State Health Commissioner Tola Kasali, surveying the scene near Ilado, about 30 miles east of the main city of Lagos. "Anywhere you have a pipeline in this country, you have this problem because people are greedy and they want quick money," Kasali said. It was not known what set off the fire. An FBI official in Washington said the bureau was working on the case but did not explain whether foul play was suspected. The FBI often gets involved in criminal investigations abroad when Americans are involved or when asked by the host country. Police and rescue workers said villagers were collecting the gushing gas when the fuel ignited, and Lagos Police Commissioner Emmanuel Adebayo said 150 to 200 people died. The Red Cross had said it was treating survivors, but no live victims were seen. By day's end, about 100 of the dead had been interred, and Kasali said cleanup efforts would resume Saturday. He said the uncollected bodies pose a health risk to the millions of inhabitants of Lagos, whose skyline could be seen on the horizon. "We just decided to give them a mass burial because no one can recognize them — even their family members can't identify them," he said. "We're concerned that if we don't do that, we'll create a health emergency in Lagos since it happened by the shore and the water will just flow back into the city." The blaze took place far from the center of the fishing village of Ilado, and it was unclear if there were witnesses. Boatsmen said they heard an explosion before dawn and saw the glow of flames. The pipeline was run by Nigeria's state oil company and was used to transport gasoline across the country for national consumption. The impoverished people of Nigeria often tap pipelines, seeking fuel for cooking or resale on the black market. The highly volatile gasoline can ignite, incinerating those collecting it. In 2004 a pipeline exploded near Lagos as thieves tried to siphon fuel, killing as many as 50 people. A 1998 pipeline blast killed more than 700 in southern Nigeria. Most of Nigeria's oil is pumped in the southern Niger Delta region, far from Lagos. Pipes carry the crude to refineries across the nation. Nigeria, which normally pumps 2.5 million barrels of crude per day, is Africa's largest producer and the fifth-largest source of imports to the United States. It was unlikely Friday's blast would affect exports. The pipeline explosion slowed a drop in crude oil futures as the International Energy Agency sharply cut its forecasts for world oil demand. Nigerian militants have kidnapped foreign oil workers to press their demands for local control of oil revenues by inhabitants of the oil-producing south, who feel cheated out of the wealth produced in their backyards. Other groups have used kidnappings as bargaining chips to prod oil companies to increase jobs or improve benefits. Hostages are usually released unharmed. Three captive foreign oil workers in the oil hub of Port Harcourt were released Friday, a day after they were snatched from a bus as they headed to work, regional police commander Samuel Adetuyi said. It was the second attack this week on foreigners in Port Harcourt, where many oil companies keep their main Nigerian operations. On Wednesday, a gunman on a motorcycle shot and killed an American worker for the U.S. drilling equipment maker Baker Hughes Inc. The FBI is helping with the investigation.

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disturbing news about closing of federal libraries

Cost-cutting moves at the EPA and elsewhere deny researchers and the
public access to vital data, critics say.


Closure of 6 federal libraries angers scientists


By Tim Reiterman, Times Staff Writer
December 8, 2006



The NASA library in Greenbelt, Md., was part of John C. Mather's daily
routine for years leading up to the astrophysicist's sharing of the 2006
Nobel Prize for shedding new light on the big bang theory of creation.
He researched existing space hardware and instrumentation there while
designing a satellite that collected data for his prize-winning
discovery.

So when he learned that federal officials were planning to close the
library, Mather was stunned.

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"It is completely absurd," he said. "The library is a national treasure.
It is probably the single strongest library for space science and
engineering in the universe."

Mather is one of thousands of people who critics say could lose access
to research materials as the government closes and downsizes libraries
that house collections vital to scientific investigation and the
enforcement of environmental laws.

Across the country, half a dozen federal libraries are closed or
closing. Others have reduced staffing, hours of operation, public access
or subscriptions.

In Washington, books are boxed at an Environmental Protection Agency
library that helped toxicologists assess health effects of pesticides
and chemicals. The General Services Administration headquarters library
where patrons conducted research on real estate, telecommunications and
government finance was shuttered this year, as was the Department of
Energy headquarters library that collected literature for government
scientists and contractors.

Officials say the cutbacks have been driven by tight budgets, declining
patronage and rising demand for online services. And they say leaner
operations will improve efficiency while maintaining essential
functions. "We are trying to improve access and ... do more with a
little less money," said Linda Travers, acting assistant administrator
for the EPA's office of environmental information.

Although hundreds of federal libraries remain open, critics say the
downsizing, especially at the EPA, demonstrates the Bush
administration's indifference to transparent government and to
scientific solutions to many pressing problems.

"Crucial information generated with taxpayer dollars is now not
available to the public and the scientists who need it," said Emily
Sheketoff, head of the American Library Assn.'s Washington office. "This
is the beginning of the elimination of all these government libraries. I
think you have an administration that does not have a commitment to
access to information."

Opponents of the EPA's reductions say they are likely to slow the work
of regulators and scientists who depend on librarians and reference
materials that are not online.

They fear that some publications will never be digitized because of
copyright restrictions or cost. They worry that important material will
be dispersed, discarded or lost. And they contend that many people will
lose access to collections because they cannot navigate online services.

In addition to shutting its headquarters library and a chemical library
in the nation's capital, the EPA has closed regional libraries in
Chicago, Kansas City and Dallas that have helped federal investigators
track sources of fish kills and identify companies responsible for
pollution.

The plans prompted the EPA's own compliance office to express concern
that cuts could weaken efforts to enforce environmental laws. EPA
employee unions decried the severity of a proposed $2.5-million cut in a
library budget that was $7 million last fiscal year. And, at the request
of three House committees, the Government Accountability Office now is
examining the reductions.

"Congress should not allow EPA to gut its library system, which plays a
critical role in supporting the agency's mission to protect the
environment and public health," 18 U.S. senators, nearly all Democrats,
said last month in a letter seeking restoration of library services
until the issue can be reviewed.

The EPA said the president's proposed budget had accelerated efforts to
modernize the system, and they said that library visits were declining.

"I think we are living in a world of digitized information," said
Travers of the EPA. "In the end there will be better access."

Travers said all EPA-generated documents from the closed libraries would
be online by January and the rest of the agency's 51,000 reports would
be digitized within two years. The EPA, she said, would not digitize
books, scientific journals and non-EPA studies but would keep one copy
of each available for inter-library loans.

The Library of Congress has digitized more than 11 million items in its
collection of 132 million, and it retains the originals. But Deanna
Marcum, associate librarian for library services there, said maintaining
library space with staff provides important benefits, especially at
specialized libraries.

"The librarians are so accustomed to doing searches and know the sources
so well, and it would be difficult for scientists to have the same level
of comfort," she said. "So, will they take the information they get and
use it rather than being exhaustive in their searches?"

An EPA study in 2004 concluded that the libraries saved millions of
dollars a year by performing time-consuming research for agency staff
members. The general public also uses EPA's libraries.

When a sanitary district proposed a sludge incinerator along Lake
Michigan in Waukegan, Ill., a few years ago, activist Verena Owen went
to the EPA library in Chicago, and with help from a librarian researched
how much mercury comes from incinerators and its toxicity. Owen said her
findings helped a successful campaign to relocate the plant.

When she recently heard the library had gone dark, Owen was outraged:
"If I had known about it, I would have chained myself to the bookcase."

The EPA's chemical library in Washington assisted scientists who
developed drinking water standards and studied the effects of
pesticides. "It allowed scientists to check on what they were being told
by companies registering new chemicals," said Linda Miller Poore, a
longtime contract librarian there.

In May, after learning the library would close, Poore took a job at
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center library in Greenbelt, Md., a facility
that supports space exploration and global warming research.

But Poore said she was notified recently that the Goddard library would
be closed Jan. 1, leaving its collection available only online. She said
she was fired Nov. 17 after telling patrons about the plans. The company
that employed her declined to comment.

Mather, the Nobel-winning astrophysicist, said the library's paper
collection is indispensable. "If we ended up moving into an age where
paper did not exist, we would need the equivalent to reach all the texts
and handbooks, and until the great library is digitized, I think we need
the paper," he said.

In the wake of complaints from scientists and engineers, the center's
operations director, Tom Paprocki, said the library was being funded
through March and that officials were exploring whether to preserve part
of it.

The discovery of discarded scientific journals last year in a dumpster
at NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley prompted a union
grievance.

Plans to slash library space later were scaled back, said union
president and scientist Paul K. Davis. "If not for our efforts, about
three-quarters of the library materials would have been gone," he said.

At the Energy Department's headquarters, people researched radiation
exposure of family members who worked with atomic energy or weaponry.
And the library staff helped DOE employees and contractors.

This summer the library closed, except the law section, and became an
online service. "By taking our headquarters library and making it
virtual, more people can access it than just being in Washington," said
Energy Department spokeswoman Megan Barnett, adding that the
department's labs often have their own libraries.

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Rocky Mountain Sustainability Summit

Rocky Mountain Sustainability Summit:Forging Solutions at Colleges and UniversitiesFebruary 22-23, 2007University of Colorado at BoulderOnline registration has begun! To register, visithttp://ecenter.colorado.edu/rmss2007/register.html

The 2007 Rocky Mountain Sustainability Summit will provide a networkingforumfor representatives from campuses in the Rocky Mountain Region to learnabouta variety of environmental issues facing institutions, explore ways ofimproving campus practices and policies, and ultimately work toward boostingthe triple bottom line of environmental, social and economic sustainability.The summit will include:--Sessions and workshops covering: institutionalizing sustainability; bestpractices for operationalizing sustainability; creating a culture ofsustainability; current and cutting edge issues; collaborative peer groupnetworking; regional sustainability strategies--Featured speakers: David Orr, Hunter Lovins, Salt Lake City Mayor RockyAnderson, Senator Ken Salazar (invited), Senator Gary Hart, Governor-ElectBill Ritter (presumptive), and others to be announced soon--Plenary panels on "Elevating Sustainability in the Mountain States Region"and "Campus Leadership for Climate Action"--Pre-Summit workshop on February 21st: "Fostering Sustainable Behavior"withCommunity Based Social Marketing expert Doug McKenzie-Mohr--Screening of "Rules of the Game" and discussion with Solitaire Townsend ofFuterra--Green Products Expo with the latest sustainable products and services forinstitutional applicationsRequest for Campus Liaisons - Can you help spread the word about this eventtostudents, faculty and staff on your Rocky Mountain campus? Please emailrmss2007@colorado.edu to learn more about being a campus liaison.Summit Sponsorship - Campuses, agencies, and corporations can support thisevent! For more information, visit:http://ecenter.colorado.edu/rmss2007/sponsors.htmlGreen Products Expo - Does your company offer a green product or servicethatyou would like to display at our Green Products Expo? We are now acceptingexhibitors! For more information, visit:http://ecenter.colorado.edu/rmss2007/expo.htmlFor more info: http://ecenter.colorado.edu/rmss2007/Registration deadline is February 12, 2007.

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