28 June 2010 | Interviews | Resisting neoliberalism | Extractive industries
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Shell refuses to provide information on severe pollution in Nigeria
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The British-Dutch company Shell, refused last week to make public 30 documents that would contribute important information on oil leaks from its oil pipelines in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. The company’s behavior shows that it is concealing information to avoid having to clean up its pollution and begin compensating the local communities, says Milieudefensie- Friends of the Earth Netherlands.
Shell’s refusal happened as part of a trial that the environmental organization and four Nigerian farmers and fisherfolk filed before The Hagues’ international court, where Shell is based. The case is against Shell’s head office and its subsidiary in Nigeria. The plaintiffs accuse the company of the huge environmental pollution caused by the oil leaks in the villages of Oruma, Goi and Ikot Ada Udo. They have now requested a special hearing before the court to demand Shell to make the 30 documents public.
Geert Ritsema, spokesperson of Friends of the Earth Netherlands told Real World Radio:
“In the framework of the legal procedure we asked Shell clarity about the way they operate in Nigeria. We asked them for reports assessing the damage of these oil spills. We asked them for an oil spill contingency plan, but they said ’we are not going to give you any of these documents’.”
He added that may be in their PR Shell is always trying to pretend they are an open and transparent company, but when it comes to the reality they are completely closed and they are not prepared to be accountable in any way for these disasters and oil pollution they have caused. “They always say they do everything proper and they follow all the rules. So if that’s the case, why don’t they just give us the documents?”
“I think the reason why they refuse to give these documents is that they are afraid that then they will be forced to pay a compensation, and to clean up the environment, which is what they want to avoid”, said Ritsema.
Friends of the Earth Netherlands and the four farmers and fisherfolk demand in the trial against Shell that there should be a proper upkeep of their facilities in Nigeria, because the studies carried out show that they fail to comply with the international standards. The old pipelines used there would never be accepted in Europe, for instance, Ritsema told Real World Radio. The plaintiffs also ask Shell to clean up the pollution and to compensate the four Nigerians, because it has become impossible to harvest or fish in the area since 2005.
Ritsema clarified that Shell’s pollution affects the whole Oruma, Goi and Ikot Ada Udo population. For this reason the clean up is very important, since the whole community will benefit from it, and not just the four plaintiffs.
The Friends of the Earth campaigners said he visited the villages of Goi and Oruma. Goi has began to disintegrate, he said, the people is leaving because they are desperate, they have nothing to eat.
Friends of the Earth estimates that the amount of oil spilled by Shell in Nigeria in the past 50 years is almost five times the amount leaked by British Petroleum in the Gulf Coast so far.
