Oil operations in South Sudan have resulted in soil and water being polluted with toxic chemicals and heavy metals that have serious consequences on the health of residents in oil-rich regions, but authorities have purposefully buried four such reports, the Associated Press reports , citing the reports it has obtained from people with knowledge of the oil operations. According to the reports, open waste pits near oil sites have contaminated the water and the soil, resulting in an increased number of miscarriages and “alarming” birth defects, the AP reported on Thursday. One of the newest countries in the world , South Sudan, broke from Sudan in 2011 and took with it around 350,000 bpd in oil production. But then civil war in South Sudan broke out in 2013 that further complicated oil production. Currently, South Sudan pumps around 180,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd). The two main oil […]