1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55 57 59 61 A multi-perspective view of the effects of a pipeline explosion in Nigeria E.O. Omodanisi a , A.O. Eludoyin b,c,n , A.T. Salami a Q1 a Institute of Ecology and Environmental Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria b Department of Geography, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria c Department of Geography, CLES, University of Exeter, Rennes Road, Exeter EX4 4RJ, Devon, United Kingdom article info Article history: Received 8 August 2013 Received in revised form 16 November 2013 Accepted 17 November 2013 Keywords: Pipeline explosion Ecosystem Perception Resource management abstract Vandalisation of petroleum pipelines is a major cause of pipeline fire disasters. However, except the number of deaths recorded, little information of the effects of such disasters on the environment is often reported in developing countries, and post-disaster remediation process is thus usually unmonitored or ineffective. This study investigated the effect of a major pipeline disaster in a rural environment in Nigeria from multi-date satellite imageries (orthophoto map, Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus, ETMþ and IKONOS), social and ecological surveys. Results showed that some of the affected settlements were within the pipeline corridor before the disaster, and pipeline vandalisa- tion was encouraged by one or more cases of faulty and exposed pipeline, deficient pipeline monitoring system, sabotage and readily available markets for siphoned oil. Ecological effects include loss of about 200 ha of vegetation resulting into significantly lower woody and herbaceous plant species in the affected regions than the adjacent plots. Significant proportion of the survivors also reported lower quality of groundwater (well water), air and streams, health problems (mainly abdominal pain) after they drank the well water and destruction of their crops and farmlands. The study concluded on the need for enforcement of the right-of-way laws on pipelines in Nigeria. & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Petroleum or crude oil is one of the most valuable natural resources in the world [35,66], and a major source of economic and infrastructural growth to the Middle East, Europe and the Americas [43]. On the other hand, the quest for petroleum and other natural resources have caused internal and international crises, including wars in the source communities, especially in Africa [43,46,68,80]. It has been observed that petroleum exploration and processing have caused environmental pollution, ecosys- tem disruption and human losses in many developing countries [10,39,80]. These problems have been aggra- vated by poor environmental planning, corruption and inconsistent government policies on environment [63,9]. Studies (such as [76,41]) also suggest that the priority given to the need for urban development and financial enrichments in many countries often jeopardise environ- mental sustainability. For example, as explained by Pepper [60] using the Friedman's core-periphery model [28], the areas where petroleum resources are exploited (resource base) are often characterised by economic and environ- mental impoverishment following continuous exploitation while the development of the urban centre (which is usually a government administrative seat, e.g. [6]) is Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijdrr International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 2212-4209/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2013.11.002 n Corresponding author at: Q3 Department of Geography, CLES, University of Exeter, Rennes Road, Exeter EX4 4RJ, Devon, United Kingdom. Mobile: þ44 7907021745. E-mail addresses: estherdanisi@gmail.com (E.O. Omodanisi), oaeludoyin@yahoo.com (A.O. Eludoyin), ayobasalami@yahoo.com (A.T. Salami). International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]] Please cite this article as: Omodanisi EO, et al. A multi-perspective view of the effects of a pipeline explosion in Nigeria. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2013.11.002i