By Daniel Howden
Abuja - Oil giant Shell has been covering up catastrophic oil spills in the Niger Delta by blaming them on sabotage by local people, according to Amnesty International.
Those living in Nigeria's oil-rich delta are suffering a "human rights tragedy" inflicted by decades of environmental damage caused, in large part, by Royal Dutch Shell, the group has claimed.
The report, Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta, released here on Thursday, says the contamination has damaged farmland, destroyed fish stocks and polluted the air and water, while oil companies' responses have been misleading or inadequate.
Shell is the largest operator in the region and has long argued that insecurity in the delta - where its operations are routinely attacked by militants - is responsible for much of the spillage and resultant environmental destruction. However, the new research alleges the oil giant has exploited the instability and lack of oversight to cover up oil spills caused by its own out-of-date or faulty equipment.
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"Oil companies have huge influence over the investigation of oil spills and other industry-related damage," the report alleges. "The companies frequently designate the causes of spills, and communities cannot hold them accountable when they disagree."
Independent auditors estimate that up to 13 million barrels of oil have been spilt in the delta, an amount equivalent to an Exxon Valdez disaster every year for 40 years. The Niger Delta is home to about 31 million people, the majority of whom live in abject poverty despite the $600 billion (R4.7 trillion) in oil revenues generated since extraction began in 1958.
Nigeria's own watchdog reports that there are 2 000 current spills, the majority from Shell operations.
The report highlights a spill at Bodo, in Ogoniland, last August caused by a pipeline leak. Oil poured into the swamp, covering the area in a thick slick and killing fish. Local people's access to food and water was devastated.
Shell has disputed the circumstances of the spill. Emergency help in the form of 50 bags each of rice, beans and flour, 50 cartons of sugar and another 50 of milk powder was rejected as "insulting and provocative" by the community.
David Williams, for Shell, said the report failed to reflect the difficulty of operating in a region where staff were under constant threat. Five had been killed and 133 kidnapped.
He said 85 percent of all spills were a result of sabotage and, in any case, Shell had pledged to clean up all spills, irrespective of their cause.
- This article was originally published on page 2 of Cape Times on July 03, 2009
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