UN Team Assesses Risk of Cameroon Dam Collapse
Date: 28-Sep-05
Country: USA/CAMEROON
An initial report from experts from the Netherlands Ministry of Transport and Public Works was expected in a few days, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday.
Erosion has been rapidly undermining the barrier at the lip of Lake Nyos, where a cloud of carbon dioxide that had built up in the water escaped in August 1986, killing 1,800 people in surrounding villages.
If the dam were to cave in, it could send a wall of water downhill through Cameroon and into neighboring Nigeria, submerging an estimated 10,000 people as well as animals and crops. It might also release another cloud of gas, which is stored in the lake's deeper layers, the UN office said.
Controversy mostly surrounds the time frame for an eventual collapse, with some geologists saying it could happen at any moment, especially if a volcanic tremor occurred in the area.
Others argue it will take longer to give way.
Efforts have been made to drain carbon dioxide from the lake but scientists say more work needs to be done to reinforce the dam and accelerate the degassing. Cameroon officials say a lack of money has delayed progress.
Scientists say Lake Nyos is one of only three lakes in the world known to be saturated with carbon dioxide -- along with Lake Monoun, also in Cameroon, and Lake Kivu on Rwanda's border with Democratic Republic of Congo.
