Dr Joseph Victor Hell, Director, Institute of Geological and Mining Research, IRGM, talks on the achievements and challenges of degassing of Lake Nyos.

Japanese funding for the monitoring of volcanic activities in Lake Nyos comes to an end in March 2016. Is the Institute of Geological and Mining Research, IRGM, making arrangements for alternative funding?

The situation you present is not exactly true because we are conducting a project with the Japanese. It is intended to enhance our capacity in monitoring such disasters. The current five-year project ends in March 2016. We have been monitoring the lake, training researchers and technicians, equipping our laboratories and reinforcing the embankment on the lake.

At the end of this project, we hope to continue on our own since we now have the manpower, equipment and know-how. However, there is a financial handicap. We are developing another project to source for funding from Japan and other donors. Every year, the State provides about 20 million FCFA seed money for monitoring Lake Nyos in the North West Region and Lake Monoun in the West Region.

This amount is not enough. We need much more not only to continue monitoring the two lakes, but the over 200 crater lakes along the volcanic line of Cameroon. We hope that the Japanese will be willing to look into our new funding proposal.

About 8 Billion FCFA has already been spent in reinforcing the embankment on Lake Nyos. Is this sufficient or more work is required?

We divided the reinforcement into two phases. The first part lasted from 2011 to 2014. The second phase has to do with preventing superficial erosion on the lake outlet by reinforcing the area with mortar. We have already prepared papers to launch the tender for this job.

Do you already have the funding and how much is it worth?

We have funding provided by the European Union. The project will cost at least 1 Billion FCFA and is expected to be carried in 2016. After this, the lake embankment will be okay.

Some people have said that if there is any collapse of the lake embankment and water overflows, it will affect people in neighbouring Nigeria. Is this true?   

The lake is 2 km long, 1 km wide and more than 200 metres deep. There will therefore be a huge volume of water in the event of the collapse of the embankment. The water will flow through the Katsina Valley into Nigeria. We made simulations that showed that if the embankment collapses, the water will cause much damage in Nigeria.

Does this impact not include any dangerous gas that might accompany the overflow?

The problem of sudden gas release is almost entirely resolved now. We have completed the degassing of the lake by 90 per cent. There is no longer much gas in the lake, though there is an input every day, but this no longer poses any danger to the public. The danger was from potential water overflow when the lake embankment was not yet reinforced.   

What about security around the lake? Soldiers from Nkambe who used to provide such security withdrew last year.

There have been some rearrangements in the army. Soldiers who used to protect the lake came from Nkambe. But with the creation last year of the 126 Mechanised Infantry Battalion, BIM, in Wum, the responsibility has been shifted to it. We are waiting for 126 BIM Wum to settle down, given that they recently had some problems that led to the burning of their barracks. Lake Nyos is a strategic area. It needs to be protected all-round because some ill-intentioned people could decide to break its embankment. Moreover, we have expensive equipment that needs to be safeguarded.

How much longer will it take to complete the degassing of Lake Nyos like it was the case with Lake Monoun in the West Region?

A minimum of 5 billion cubic metres of gas enters the lake every year and we have capacity for extracting more than 10 million cubic metres. I can’t exactly say how much longer it will take to complete the remaining 10 per cent of degassing, but we hope to complete the process in three to four years. We will still have gas accumulating under water, but the pressure has been reduced so much that with time, water will no longer be pumped out of the three installed fountains. This means spending less money on monitoring the lake.

Technically, we have almost ensured the security of the lake with the resolution of problems of weak embankment and sudden gas release. We will continue monitoring since we are dealing with natural phenomena. The public is assured that Lake Nyos is quite secure now. I would like to thank everybody for their support and government for the confidence placed in us to resolve this scientific problem.