Oil pollution reducing Sudanese water quality

Oil production in Sudan is polluting a vital water supply and potentially affecting the health of thousands of people, a new report has found.

German aid agency Sign of Hope travelled to the country's Unity State, where it carried out tests on water samples taken from wells near two major oil fields.

Its analysis revealed that contaminants including cyanides, lead, cadmium, nickel and arsenic had reached critical levels, according to a report by AFP.

Vice chairman of the organisation Klaus Stieglitz told the news agency: "The heavy metal concentrations of these waters will have [a] negative impact on the health situation of some 300,000 inhabitants in the affected area."

The White Nile Petroleum Operating Company, which owns and works the oil fields, would not comment on the allegations but pointed out that it had provided a water treatment plant to serve the local villages.

Pollution caused by the oil industry is also threatening the nearby Sudd tropical wetlands, one of the largest inland wetlands sites in the world.

Sudan has a population of over 41 million and the average age in the country is just 19.1 years.

Posted by Claire Manning