A new oil spill at a Shell facility in Nigeria has sparked outrage and legal action from the local communities in the Niger Delta, who have long suffered from the environmental and health impacts of the oil industry.
The spill, which occurred on June 11, came from the Trans-Niger Pipeline operated by Shell that crosses through Ogoniland, a region where the London-based energy giant has faced decades-long local resistance to its oil exploration.
The volume of oil spilled has not been determined, but activists have published images of polluted farmland, water surfaces blighted by oil sheens and dead fish mired in sticky crude.
The leak has been contained, but the cleanup has been delayed due to protests from residents who blame Shell for the environmental damage and demand compensation.
“It is one of the worst in the last 16 years in Ogoniland,” said Fyneface Dumnamene, an environmental activist whose nonproft monitors spills in the Delta region.
He said the spill affected several communities and displaced more than 300 fishers. He also said tides have sent oil sheens about 10 kilometers (6 miles) further to creeks near the nation’s oil business capital, Port Harcourt.
Shell stopped production in Ogoniland more than 20 years ago amid deadly unrest from residents protesting environmental damage, but the Trans-Niger Pipeline still sends crude from oil fields in other areas through the region’s communities to export terminals.
The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), which is investigating the cause of the spill, said it was engaging with Shell and the communities to resolve the situation.
“Response has been delayed. But engagement is going on,” said Idris Musa, director general of NOSDRA.
Shell has not commented on the latest spill, but has previously said it was committed to cleaning up all spills from its facilities, regardless of the cause.
Shell has been involved in several incidents of oil spills in Nigeria, some caused by sabotage and some by negligence. In January, over 13,000 people from the Niger Delta filed individual claims at the High Court in London against Shell for years of oil spills.
“This is one of the most important environmental and human rights cases ever brought against a multinational corporation,” said Daniel Leader, partner at Leigh Day, the law firm representing the claimants.
In February, a Dutch appeals court ruled that Shell Nigeria was responsible for damage caused by leaks in the Niger Delta and ordered the company to pay compensation to Nigerian farmers.
The Niger Delta region is one of the most polluted places on earth, according to Amnesty International. The U.N. Environmental Programme reported in 2011 that the threat to public health warranted “emergency action” and that the cleanup process would take 30 years.
Local leaders are distraught and angry at the ongoing crisis.
“As we speak, oil is spilling in my community every day, people are dying,” said King Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi, leader of the Ogale community.
“If you don’t have money, you can’t drink water. It’s like we are living in a desert, while we are living on the water,” said Chief Bennett Dokubo, a community leader and claimant from Bille.
Relevant articles:
– Oil spill from Shell pipeline fouls farms and a river in a long-polluted part of Nigeria, Associated Press, June 26, 2023
– Explosion at Nigeria Oil Pipeline Kills 12, Shell Blames Crude Oil Theft for Tragedy, Pipeline Journal, June 25, 2023
– Nigeria investigates Shell’s Trans Niger pipeline spill, Reuters, June 26, 2023
– Shell Oil Spills Lead to Lawsuit by 13,000 People in Nigeria, The Intercept, February 1, 2023