Nigeria - Shell Reproached Over Niger Delta Oil Clean-up Delays

Two large spills of crude oil from Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) pipelines in the Niger delta four years ago haven't been cleaned up by the company despite the its promise to do so, the Observer reports Sunday, citing a lawyer defending villagers affected.

Shell accepted responsibility and pledged to repair the damage done by spills from its pipelines near the Ogoni village of Bodo four years ago. But an assessment has found only small pilot schemes were started and the most contaminated areas around Bodo and the Gokana district of Ogoniland remain untouched, the newspaper reports.
"A comprehensive clean-up is yet to get under way and the creeks remain extremely polluted," said Martyn Day of the London-based law firm Leigh Day, which represents the 11,000 affected villagers. Mr. Day has just returned from the delta, where he was part of a team assessing the clean-up. "Next to nothing has happened and where work has commenced it has been totally amateurish," he tells the newspaper.

Shell said it had started cleaning up five affected areas, but said it had been refused access to several other polluted sites, the paper reports.

A spokesman for the Shell Petroleum Development Co. of Nigeria is quoted as saying: "SPDC is committed to cleaning up all spills, no matter what the cause, from its facilities. The real tragedy of the Niger delta is the widespread and continual criminal activity, including sabotage, theft and illegal refining, that leads to the vast majority of oil being spilled."

SPDC is the operator of a joint venture agreement involving the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., which holds 55%, Shell 30%, EPNL 10% and Agip 5%.