Ogun State Government has flagged off a remediation exercise aimed at freeing the industrial town of Ogijo of any form of lead contamination.

This is coming after a detailed process audit of all Used Lead Acid Battery (ULAB) facilities and a series of tests carried out on soil, water, air and blood tests on residents of the industrial town in the aftermath of the alleged lead poisoning.

General Manager of the Ogun State Environmental Protection Agency (OGEPA), Kehinde Bello, while flagging off the remediation exercise, said the state government had begun to evacuate slag dumped in various communities within the town due to their hazardous nature, which will affect residents of the communities who are not aware of the hazardous nature of any contamination.

“The evacuation of this slag will take us weeks to complete because lots of them are illegally dumped in many communities surrounding the ULAB facilities,” he said.

Also speaking, Director of Hazardous Material Management in OGEPA, Babatunde Lawal, said there would be a removal of the lead that might have gone into the soil so that the places where the slag was dumped and now evacuated would be free from lead contamination.

He, however, urged the ULAB facilities to run their operations responsibly and sustainably for the betterment of the environment and safety of the public.

Director, Inspectorate and Compliance, OGEPA, Tunde Bolarinwa, said the agency would continue to monitor the ULAB facilities to ensure they comply with the state government’s new operational guidelines, warning that any of them that fails to comply with the new order will be sanctioned.