By Atâyi Babs
Amnesty International and the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) today at a press conference in Abuja, Nigeria, presented a new report which exposed Shell’s blatantly false statements about its efforts to clean up oil spills in the Niger Delta.
The report establishes that despite several promises to act on a 2011 United Nations Environmental Programme report exposing shocking levels of pollution caused by oil spills, Shell has either not cleaned up or has done it so badly that oil still pollutes the land.
The report, which is being published ahead of the 20th anniversary of the execution of environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, who protested the impacts of oil production in the Niger Delta, also examines the adequacy and effectiveness of oil spill clean-up by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria and challenges the human rights impacts of oil pollution in the Niger Delta..
On 10 November, the anniversary will be marked by candlelit vigils in Nigeria and protests outside Shell petrol stations in the UK and the Netherlands.
The key findings of the report which was based on field research conducted by Amnesty International and CEHRD in Ogoniland in the Niger Delta in July to September 2015 include:
- Outside the perimeter of the Bomu Manifold at Kegbara Dere (K. Dere) which Shell said it had cleaned in 2012, researchers saw soil soaked with crude oil. The pollution dates back at least to 2009 when a large fire and spill occurred at the Bomu Manifold, an area where several Shell pipelines meet.
- The Barabeedom swamp, south of the Bomu Manifold, is visibly contaminated with crude oil a year after the government regulator certified it as clean.
- At Okuluebu, Ogale, researchers saw patches
of oil-blackened soil at several locations. The government regulator certified the area as clean in 2012.
Weak regulatory framework
In Nigeria the company that operates the pipeline or well from which the oil is spilled is responsible, under the law, is mandated to start the clean-up
within 24 hours. It must rehabilitate and restore the affected area as much as possible to its original state, a process known as remediation.
New research by Amnesty International and CEHRD shows that Shell is failing to do this. Sites that Shell claims it has cleaned up are still visibly polluted.
Ensuring that oil-affected sites are properly cleaned up is the responsibility of the government regulators. However, Amnesty International and CEHRD also found serious shortcomings in this regard.
What Nigeria’s National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has certified as clean sites are still visibly contaminated.
Researchers also studied government and Shell documents, including reports produced by clean-up contractors, remediation certificates and maps, as well as court documents, video footage, media reports and satellite images.
The field work focused on four sites at which major oil spills had occurred: Boobanabe, Bomu Manifold, Barabeedom swamp and Okuluebu. The spills date back several years or in the case of Boobanabe, several decades.
These sites were previously examined by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The UNEP Report
In 2011 UNEP published the most comprehensive study to date of the impact that oil pollution has had on the communities living in the Niger Delta. Focusing on just one region, Ogoniland, UNEP exposed an appalling level of pollution, including the contamination of agricultural land and fisheries, the contamination of drinking water, and the exposure of hundreds of thousands of people to serious health risks.
UNEP documented serious pollution and Shell’s failure to properly clean up oil spills at more than 60 locations, including the four examined in this report. Shell has publicly said that, since 2011, it has addressed the pollution documented by UNEP. However, the evidence gathered by Amnesty International and CEHRD contradicts Shell’s claims.
45 years after a fire and spill at Shell’s Bomu Well 11 at Boobanabe, researchers saw water- logged areas with an oily sheen, and soil was black and encrusted with oil. Shell said it had cleaned-up and remediated the site in 1975 and in 2012.
According to Nigerian government regulations, there should be no oil in water 60 days after a spill.
Recommendations
The report also recommends the publication of all oil spill clean-up and remediation certificates and other documents relating to re mediation and the hosting of a dedicated website, similar to the “Nigerian Oil Spill Monitor” website, which carries information on spills, to host this information. This is with a view making all documents freely available to anyone who requests them.
The government of Nigeria was also urged to substantially strengthen the capacity of NOSDRA to ensure that it functions to a high professional standard, including by providing an increased budget for its operations, so that it is able to hire qualified staff, and conduct independent assessments of oil spills sites and remediation.
The report recommends full implementation of the recommendations of the UNEP environmental assessment report for Ogoniland, 2011.
SHELL’s responsibility
The new report expects Shell to, as a matter of urgency, carry out effective clean-up and remediation operations at the oil spill sites at the Bomu Manifold, Barabeedom swamp, Okuluebu, and Boobanabe, in consultation with the local communities.
The oil giant is also expected to ensure that all communities affected by failed or delayed clean-up of oil spills receive adequate compensation for their losses as well as overhaul it’s remediation methodology in line with the recommendations of UNEP, and publish details of how it has changed.
An immediate but open publication on the clean-up and remediation reports and certificates for all sites in the Niger Delta on the company’s website, in the same way that Shell has published all oil spill investigation reports since 2011 is part the report’s recommendation for Shell.
When contacted for official response on the findings contained in the report, Shell, in a one-page letter dated 24 October 2015, disagreed with the findings, but did not provide any details to support its statements.
The company said that it had consistently reported publicly on its implementation of UNEP’s recommendations and the ongoing problems of oil theft and illegal refining which affect the Niger Delta.
