Statement by Women’s Leadership Center, Nutrition and Food Security Alliance of Namibia and The Economic and Social Justice Trust of Namibia
30 May 2022
In a recently published interview on OneAfrica TV (Friday, 6 May 2022), ReconAfrica spokesperson, Mwanyengwa Shapwanale stated that the company uses an ‘organic’ drilling mud, which she claimed has been tasted by ‘our people’. She echoed earlier statements by company founder Craig Steinke who implied on the NBC segment ‘ReconAfrica says oil and gas exploration activities in Kavango Basin are above board’ which aired on NBC March 30, 2021. Craig Steinke was on the NBC program Harklop on 31 May boasting about his drilling fluid. The problem for ReconAfrica is that organic drilling mud does not exist.
The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health says that ‘drilling fluid is generally a water-based (the type used by ReconAfrica and most of the rest of the industry) mud containing mainly bentonite clay. Most drilling muds consist of aqueous slurry of 5% bentonite in amended with sodium hydroxide and a density-increased material such as barite, to help float out rock cuttings’. Water based is not the same as organic, and even though water may form the base of the fluid, chemicals are added as they are throughout the drilling process. It is still hazardous to the environment and unsafe for groundwater. For ReconAfrica to claim that these additives or drilling mud are ‘organic’ or safe to consume is misleading and false.
Drilling mud is used to keep the drill bit cool, return drill cuttings to the surface, keep the hole from collapsing while drilling and to prevent volatile gasses and fluids from entering the wellbore which would cause a disastrous blowout. If a ‘Loss of Circulation’ (Lost circulation in drilling is any loss of mud into subsurface formations) occurs, emergency additives (often hazardous in nature) must be introduced to prevent such a blowout. ReconAfrica should publicly disclose what their exact drilling mud ingredients are as well as any drilling mud additives for both maintaining mud properties or a LOC occurrence.
The ReconAfrica spokesperson’s statement implied that the mud used in drilling ReconAfrica’s wells would be safe for human consumption, which is false. The fluid which comes from drilling is toxic and was dumped by ReconAfrica at both of their drill sites, into unlined pits with potential to contaminate groundwater.
In October 2020, ReconAfrica’s then spokesperson Claire Preece, said that “potentially toxic drill cuttings from the oil test wells will be managed in lined pits, cleaned, and disposed of offsite as per company and regulatory requirements.” Recon Africa’s failure to properly dispose of this waste is a violation of the company’s Environmental Management Plan. The current spokesperson claims the document holds the company accountable, but in reality the company acts without significant oversight. .
ReconAfrica only focuses on their own drilling fluid while ignoring all the materials that come up from under the earth. Drilling fluids returned to the surface after drilling often contain hazardous materials from under the surface, such as hyper-saline brines, heavy metals, naturally occurring radioactive waste materials, as well as, potentially, oil. This toxic backflow is dumped into unlined pits by ReconAfrica.
Canadian oil companies face stringent regulations with regard to waste pits requiring a double lined pit along with a leak-detection system, as would be known to the directors of ReconAfrica. The company has ignored these well-known safety guidelines, yet has issued public statements claiming, despite substantial evidence to the contrary, to follow international best practices.
Despite the often repeated ReconAfrica talking points regarding the drilling of water wells- there will be no benefit to communities if the groundwater is contaminated by the careless disposal of drilling effluent. While the company claims that there is ‘no way’ their practices can harm the environment, their disregard for basic safety standards makes harm to the environment and groundwater all but certain.
Land Farming
ReconAfrica did not ensure that ‘’potentially toxic cuttings will be cleaned and disposed of offsite” as they said they would, instead this waste was dumped into unlined pits. .
The Canadian company now grows crops on top of the waste pit at Kawe. This is a process the oil industry refers to as ‘landfarming’. No third party verification of the safety of that soil was done before planting crops there. Many of the elements included in the drilling slurry which were included are harmful in high concentrations, but ReconAfrica also have never publicly listed the liquids which they disposed of in the unlined pits.
There has been no evaluation of whether the type and degree of the contamination in the soil is suitable for landfarming. Canadian regulations on landfarming stipulate that certain compounds such as petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals concentrations must be within limits. If the waste tests above those limits, it cannot be used for landfarming and must be declared ‘hazardous waste and handled accordingly’. We do not believe any such tests were carried out.
Canadian regulations also stipulate that studies must be done before landfarming takes place which show groundwater flows and potential harms to adjacent properties. No such study was done by ReconAfrica, yet the company still claims to adhere to best international practices.
The Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health published a study ‘Soil Contamination Assessments from Drilling Fluids and Produced Water Using Combined Field and Laboratory Investigations on landfarming. They found elevated chemical levels present in the soil where drilling fluids had been previously stored including increased levels of chromium and nickel. The study also noticed that levels of calcium, sodium and chlorine tested over allowable limits for applications to soils. We ask the Ministry of Agriculture to test the soil and to protect the precious water resources in the Kavango regions.
The Data Room 
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