No fuel spillage in Maame Water community but sludge from pressure testing in repaired pipeline a- BOST clarifies

The Corporate Communications Department of Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) Company has debunked publications in sections of the media regarding a leaking petroleum product pipeline owned and operated by the company in the Atimpoku area beyond the Adomi Bridge in a village called Maame Water.

According to BOST, the spillage in the Maame Water community was a sludge from a pressure testing of the line after the repair works to be sure all the leakages detected had been rectified.

“It is this pressure testing which resulted in the push out of the sludge in the Maame Water area which is being reported in the media”.

“The sludge is a combination of water, dirt and fuel residue formed in the pipeline which was pushed out in the pressure testing” a press release copied to Peacefmonline.com has stated.

BOST said that the exposed content of the line due to the testing has been foamed by the company team with support from the Ghana National Fire Service and works were underway to ensure a clean-up of the area of the spillage.

The communique further stated that the spilt slop was contained within the drains in the area which happened to be choked, therefore, had no impact on the environment and no spillage into the water bodies around the area including the Volta Lake.

"There was no spillage into the water bodies around the area including Volta Lake. The spills in the drains have been recovered with the support of the BOST team which has been on site since morning", the communique read.

The release also emphasized that the tanks at the Maame Water depot had been empty over the last couple of years and BOST had not pumped products up the pipeline since the repair works were yet to be fully completed for a hand-over and re-commissioning.

“We are satisfied with the level of work done and look forward to mending this single section of the 71-kilometre pipeline as we get ready to re-commission it for utilization by the first quarter of the year 2023”, the release captured.

BOST, however, assured the public that the situation was under control and there were no financial cost implications of the said spillage since the same was carried out to check the integrity of the repaired pipeline.

BOST owns and operates a 71-kilometre Petroleum-Product-Pipeline which stretches from the Accra Plains Depot at Kpone in Tema to the Akosombo Depot at the banks of the Volta Lake in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

The pipeline had been decommissioned in 2015 due to vandalism of the line by unknown assailants. This resulted in BOST resorting to the use of Bulk Road Vehicles, popularly known as tankers in the haulage of petroleum Products from the Tema to the Akosombo Depot for onward transmission using river badges to the Buipe Depot in northern Ghana.

Repair works on the pipeline commenced a year ago and were expected to be completed by the third quarter of the year 2022. Due to the impact of the construction of the Railway Line from Tema to Mpakadan in the Volta region, the line had to be re-routed which affected the completion time.

The company, as a further boost, commissioned the installation of a leak and intrusion detection system on the line for the safety and security of its operations when it was re-commissioned.

BOST assured its commitment to serve the interest of the government and people of the Republic of Ghana by using the pipeline to reduce the cost of transportation of products in the country.