Fearing the ecological impact of these activities, several ecological activists are demanding the implementation of monitoring procedures over these firms, to mitigate the harmful waste of their activities, and regulate the industry.
In early 2015, Environment Protection Association, an ecological organisation active in the region, became vocal after it had observed several violations. The association demanded relevant authorities to intervene, but the response was anticlimactic.
An activist from the association said to Dune Voices that “these petroleum firms do not respect environmental laws and concerns.” The activist explained that this negligence of regulations is due to the lack of governmental supervision over these firms’ activities.
According to the association, the most serious violations committed, are disregard of environmental codes in drilling sites; no backfill is made after the work is done. Hazardous chemical drilling water is not being treated, which might contaminate groundwater, and put livestock at risk in this largely pastoral landscape.
The association observed the activity of the operating firm in Borma, Tunisia’s oldest oil field. The firm uses a drilling technique, where large quantities of water are pumped into the well, to increase the oil flow coming out. The contaminated water used in the operation is kept in untreated and unprotected manmade pools.
Environmental malpractice is not the only sin of these firms. Petroleum companies have appropriated the majority of natural water resources and wells, the main source of drinking water for livestock. That was the case with Qara’at Sabir lakes, Sakhouna spring and Thahrat Salih deep well in Dehiba.
Ecological activists in the region fear the impact of dangerous chemical waste following the news of plans by one of the oil exploration companies to excavate for shale gas in Borj el-Khadra, in southern Tataouine district. Excavating for shale gas consumes large quantities of water, in a region where water is already scarce.
Adil Almisawi, the National Association of Ocean Protection representative in Tataouine describes government supervision as “poor and almost absent”; supervision in done through a single annual monitoring period.
Almisawi says this is due to the lack of logistic and manpower capacities, the remote locations of petroleum companies, and the challenging desert landscape. Other reasons are structural in nature; central management and staff incompetence.
In response to water resources exhaustion, water directorate deputy at Tataouine agricultural delegation said to Dune Voices that “these firms abide to water resources usage contracts with the ministry, periodic supervision on how they do that is being carried out.” The deputy pointed out that “contracts include an article that guarantees livestock business owners’ access to existing water resources.”
Agricultural engineer Mohammad Aljuini, member of the Tunisian Agriculture Union, confirmed that the issue of water resources appropriation by petroleum companies is on the Union’s agenda, and that several complaints were made by livestock business owners regarding the issue, and the pollution of the untreated oil drilling water pools.
Aljuini points out that in recent years, large numbers of goats and camels were infected with diseases the ministry labs were unable to diagnose.
Oil exploration companies abuse the “social responsibility” programme to divert attention away from their environmental violations; as the business grows larger, the growing need for manpower was accommodated by locals, especially with demands of employment after the revolution in Tunisia.
In collaboration with relevant authorities, petroleum companies implemented the social responsibility programme, which dictates the allocation of almost one million euros each year for local authorities. The money goes to fund youth development projects, and CSO’s like the Austrian organisation “Hilfswerk - Skills to Succeed”, which is funded by these firms, to carry out civil society development project and small business projects for educated youths.
It seems that petroleum firms are abusing the need for employment in Tataouine. The marginalised area is witnessing an economic boom thanks to these projects, which local authorities and inhabitants cannot do without.
