#oil-spills

#oil-spills

But that began to change in 2015, when oil and gas drillers started fracking operations in the state's northwest corner, known as the Greater Chaco Landscape. Soon, Atencio's grandmother's land was surrounded by noise and air pollution. In 2019, both the land and the water beneath it were contaminated by massive spills that leaked thousands of gallons of oil. Once-abundant plants, including traditional medicinal herbs, no longer grew on the land, and rare birds and wildlife were disappearing, too.

Amid the tropical heat, intense humidity, and foggy greenery of the delta, deserted houses are all that remain of what was once the bubbling and thriving community of Goi. Situated deep in Nigeria's Niger Delta, around 50 kilometers from regional center Port Harcourt, Goi was just one of ten Ogoniland communities devastated by severe oil spills in 2008. Signs near the river bank prohibit using the water source, warning of crude oil contamination.