Outrage at Shell-Funded UN Report on Nigeria's Oil Spills
LAGOS (NIGERIA) / AMSTERDAM (THE NETHERLANDS), August 24, 2010 – Friends of the Earth International is outraged by reports that a major UN investigation into Nigeria oil spills funded by oil giant Shell relies more on figures produced by oil companies and Nigerian state statistics than on community testimony and organizations on the ground who work with communities. [1]
After releasing some information last week about its ongoing investigation, which is due to be released in early 2011, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) was strongly criticised by environmental and human rights organisations. The UNEP acknowledged that its investigation relies heavily on data supplied by the oil industry and in an August 23 statement announced that no draft report currently exists.
Shell oil spills and gas flaring in Nigeria are a major human rights and environmental tragedy.
Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends the Earth International and director of Environmental Rights Action in Nigeria said:
"We monitor spills regularly and our observations often contradict information produced by oil companies and Nigerian regulatory agencies . If the UNEP team would ask community monitors it would avoid falling into the trap of spinning Shell's figures. The UN assessment is being paid for by Shell so we are not surprised that it tells Shell's version of the facts. But the reality is that several studies have placed the bulk of the blame for oil spills in the Niger Delta on the doorsteps of the oil companies; particularly Shell.”
The Gulf of Mexico Spill and the Campaign To Leave New Oil in the Soil in Africa
Throughout Africa, oil has correlated with imperial subjugation, local authoritarianism and flagrant human rights abuses. It is now no longer in doubt that there are absolutely no guarantees that extractive activities are safe. One accident could jeopardise an entire ecosystem. It has been common knowledge in many oil bearing communities in Africa that the discovery of oil in a local community is akin to a declaration of full-fledged war on such a community.
In the last few years, high energy demand has led to an upsurge in exploration and drilling of new oil wells both onshore and offshore in places where it would have been highly unprofitable to prospect for oil a few years ago. Nothing is sacred in this breathless search for new oil; pristine forests, sacred groves, ecologically fragile environments and even internationally recognized conservation sites are not spared the oily embrace. For many African communities their already desperate situation is compounded by the depleting oil reserves in easily accessible areas in the global north, the unending conflicts in the Middle East, the ongoing re-nationalization of oil assets in South and Meso America, the reawakening of Russia, the huge appetite of China and the Asian Tigers and India for oil.
NigeriaOilwatch Africa World Environment Day: The other side of oil
Nigeria
Rumuekpe Women take case to God
"Since we returned from exile in November last year, we have been begging the government to help us rebuild our community, we have been begging the oil companies, we have been begging the Local government, but they have all failed us. That is why we have decided to take our case to God. You can see that there is no roof anywhere to provide shelter for us. we believe God will not fail us” Mrs Queen Omanu, a woman leader from Rumuekpe lamented to ERA/Oilwatch Africa team amidst tears on Saturday, June 5, in Rumuekpe after one of their prayer and fasting sessions.
Rumuekpe, an oil bearing community in Emohua LGA of Rivers State, is the poster child of the ugly and bitter side of oil and the extent to which oil politics could destroy a people and their community. To them, oil cannot be anything better than a curse. The community which hosts 4 oil companies, namely, Agip, TotalfinaElf, Shell and Niger Delta Petroleum Resources, NDPR was engulfed in a fratricidal war which began sometime in March 2005 over who controls revenues that accrue to the community in form of royalties, compensations, petty contracts among others. The war was executed by the youths of the community, with support from mercenaries including cult gangs from different parts of the state as well as security operatives. The ferocious war led to the total destruction of the community of about 8 villages and the sacking of the community.
UgandaOil - Soil Tests Expose High Toxic Levels
()
Oil tests by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) have shown unacceptable levels of heavy metals in the waste water and mud cuttings left behind by the oil companies in the process of their exploration activities.
The cuttings are pieces of rock that come out of the Earth's crust during drilling. They are thrown in open waste pits which get filled with water when it rains.
The cuttings also contain a mixture of chemicals that are used to cool the temperature of the drilling head. The heavy metals found during the soil tests, carried out at the end of July, were lead, zinc, chromium, cadmium, manganese, cooper, nickel, iron, manganese, phosphates, nitrogen, chloride and sulphates.
The study, carried out at 10 oil fields of Tullow Oil in Buliisa and Hoima districts, showed lead concentrations in the waste water of up to 19 times the standard level.
Lead is a poisonous metal that can damage nervous connections and cause blood and brain disorders.
Low lead levels have been associated with changes in children's mental development and behaviour such as hyperactivity and lowered performance on intelligence tests.
Exposure to high lead levels can damage the brain and kidneys and ultimately cause death. In pregnant women, high levels of exposure may cause miscarriage, while in men it can damage the organs responsible for sperm production.
