The Ogun State government has suspended three environmental consultancy firms for their negligence and culpability in the alleged acid battery pollution from the closed Used Lead Acid Battery ULAB Recycling companies in the Ogijo area of the state.
The Commissioner for Environment, Ola Oresanya, announced their suspension during a review meeting of the Process Audit of the closed companies at the Conference Room of the Ministry of Environment, State Secretariat, Oke mosan Abeokuta.
The Environmental Consultancy firms include Vyne Nurt Limited, Core Environmental Services Limited, and Saag Chemicals Nigeria Limited.
According to the commissioner, the three environmental consultancy firms that were attached to the ULAB companies were found culpable during the audit process.
He noted that the audit had confirmed that some of the pollution abatement devices that were supposed to be installed by these companies were not installed because the consultancy firms were deficient in reporting the correct situation of the companies to the state government, thereby showing professional negligence.
“Review of the firm’s reports on the companies during the audit process shows that their reports were deficient in reporting the correct situation to the state government. To have a clearer picture, we invited five consultancy firms involved and gave them the chance to defend their positions on the reporting gap,” he said.
“Two of the environmental consultancy firms were able to give some explanations, which, though not entirely satisfactory, but were given the opportunity to amend their ways, while the three suspended firms deliberately absented themselves from the review meeting, knowing fully well that they are complici.t”
He, therefore, said the state government had no choice but to decide to suspend them from all environmental consultancy services in the state pending the time they will be able to clear their names from any form of complicity allegations against them in the Process Audit of the closed ULAB companies.
He added that the Federal Ministry of Environment and the National Environmental Standard and Enforcement Agency, NESREA, have been notified of the decision of the state government to suspend their operations in the state until they exonerate themselves.
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