The Kenya Pipeline Company board of directors has committed to take responsibility if the Kiboko River was contaminated after an oil spill.
The firm and the Water Resource Authority are carrying out joint tests to establish the extent of the oil spill and if river, which the community depends on, has been contaminated.
In a statement on Tuesday, the board supported the KPC management's resolve to comply with WRA's cautionary notice regarding the supply of drinking water to the Kiboko community. The statement was signed by board chairman John Ngumi.
"As a matter of urgency, KPC management is working with the national and county governments to establish the optimal way of supplying the community with clean water," it reads.
The statement also indicates that the board is determined to get to the root cause of the spillage. "The board deeply regrets the spillage. The leak that led to the spillage was neither expected nor anticipated, given that this is a newly commissioned line that has been in operation for nearly a year, and is operating consistently and satisfactory at the design rate of transporting one million litres per hour."
The leak was reported on March 30 and since then, KPC has been working on establishing the extent of the leak and trying to control the oil from spreading further.
While touring the site recently, KPC Manager Hudson Andambi said of the 42 shallow trenches done by KPC, three were found with high volumes of oil, 32 wells with small traces of oil, while the other six had no traces of oil.
He said KPC will involve all the stakeholders in their findings to win residents trust.
About 10,000 residents who benefit from Kanaani Water Project, which pumps water from Kiboko River, area institutions such as St Ann’s Girls school, Kiboko primary school, and Kenya Agricultural Research and Livestock Organisation will be affected greatly should the water turn out to be contaminated.
Leaders have demanded that the spill be handled in a more conclusive way than the Thange spill.
