Amnesty: Shell Oil Spill in Nigeria at Least 60 Times Larger Than Reported
Oil giant
Shell is being accused of dramatically underestimating the size of a 2008 oil spill in the Niger Delta of Nigeria.
Shell’s official investigation says about 1,600 barrels of oil leaked out over a 72-day period. But a new independent assessment obtained by Amnesty International shows the spill was at least 60 times larger. Amnesty says between 103,000 and 311,000 barrels were spilled.
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/4/24/headlines#42410
Supreme Court Rejects Human Rights Cases Against Foreign Corporations
The Supreme Court has ruled foreign multinationals cannot be sued in U.S. courts for human rights abuses committed abroad. The landmark case centered on a lawsuit that accuses the oil giant
Shell’s parent company, Royal Dutch Petroleum, of complicity in the murder and torture of Nigerian activists two decades ago. In 1995, nine Nigerian activists, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, were executed by the Nigerian military government for protesting
Shell’s exploration and development in the Niger Delta. The families of the Nigerians killed were seeking to hold
Shell liable under a 1789 U.S. law called the Alien Tort Statute. In a unanimous decision, justices ruled Wednesday that a New York federal court does not have jurisdiction to hear the case. The ruling will effectively keep lawsuits against foreign corporations for human rights abuses out of federal courts, although analysts say legal mechanisms may still exist for such suits to be brought in state courts. In a statement, the Center for Justice and Accountability said: "Today’s opinion was a missed opportunity to send a crystal clear message: the world’s torturers and war criminals are not above the law — and neither are their accomplices."
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/4/18/headlines#4189
Mishaps by Shell Prompt Admin Review of Arctic Drilling
The Obama administration has launched a review of offshore oil drilling in the Arctic following a cascading series of blunders and mishaps by the oil giant
Shell. Shell’s recent troubles culminated when its drill rig ran aground last week off the Alaskan coast, sparking concerns of a potential spill. Past problems have included safety and environmental violations on its vessels and the failure during a test of a device meant to control a gushing well. Government officials say the new 60-day review could potentially limit or halt
Shell’s ambitions for Arctic drilling. The escalating issues have followed repeated warnings by environmental groups that Shell is unprepared for the harsh and dangerous conditions associated with Arctic drilling. Dan Howells of Greenpeace told The New York Times: "We’ve repeatedly been told
Shell is the best in the business, and so we can only conclude after this series of mishaps that the best in the business is simply not good enough for the Arctic." The Coast Guard has launched a separate investigation into the grounding of
Shell’s drill rig last week.
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/1/9/headlines#191
Grounded Shell Rig Left Alaskan Waters to Avoid Taxes
The oil giant
Shell has admitted that an oil drilling rig that ran aground late last year left Alaskan waters in a bid to avoid paying millions in taxes. The Kulluk was trying to pass through the Gulf of Alaska when it was pushed aground by a severe winter storm. The Coast Guard had to rescue the ship’s crew, and the incident helped spark a federal review of offshore drilling in the Arctic. Testifying to the Coast Guard over the weekend, Sean Churchfield, operations manager for
Royal Dutch Shell in Alaska, said the decision to leave Alaska’s Dutch Harbor before the storm hit was "driven by the economic factors." Shell would reportedly have had to pay more than $6 million in taxes had it stayed through January 1.
Dutch Court Rules Shell Partially Liable for Nigeria Oil Spills
A court in the Netherlands has ruled the oil giant
Shell is at least partly responsible for environmental damage from oil leaks in the Niger Delta. On Wednesday, a Dutch court ruled
Shell must pay compensation to a Nigerian farmer whose land was contaminated by oil pollution from
Shell’s operations. The ruling was mixed, however, as the court also threw out four other complaints. Despite the dismissals, Nigerian human rights lawyer and activist Ebun Adegboruwa said the ruling establishes a precedent to hold
Shell accountable.
Ebun Adegboruwa: "I am glad that for the first time at least the agitation of our people has been confirmed that
Shell is not a friendly organization and that it needed to be held accountable by its own people for the crimes committed against people of Nigeria, so it’s quite commendable."
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/1/31/headlines#1317
NY Hospital Evacuated; Oil Spill Reported in NJ
On Wednesday, more than 300 patients were evacuated from New York’s Bellevue Hospital Center after backup generators failed, the second major New York hospital to lose power as a result of the storm.
A fuel oil spill, meanwhile, has been reported in New Jersey at a facility jointly owned by the oil giant Shell. The site’s operator, Motiva, said an unknown amount of fuel was released into the Arthur Kill waterway, which separates New Jersey from Staten Island.
In Shell Case, Will Supreme Court’s View of Corporate Personhood Mean Liability for Crimes Abroad?
The case centers on a lawsuit that accuses the oil giant Shell’s parent company, Royal Dutch Petroleum, of complicity in the murder and torture of Nigerian activists. In 1995, nine Nigerian activists, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, were executed by the Nigerian military government for protesting Shell’s exploration and development in the Niger Delta. The families of seven of the Nigerians killed are seeking to hold Shell liable under a 1789 U.S. law called the Alien Tort Statute.
A separate suit involving Ken Saro-Wiwa’s family was settled in 2009, when Shell agreed to pay $15.5 million.
Well, Shell, Royal Dutch Petroleum, had long had a presence in Nigeria and other parts of Africa and was exploiting natural resources there for profit. And in the '90s, a genuine grassroots movement, particularly among the Ogoni tribe, sought to limit Shell's control over their natural resources. And in response, Shell, with the collaboration of the Nigerian government, repressed those organic political protests and engaged with the Nigerian government, aided and abetted the Nigerian government in torture, extrajudicial killing and a range of other human rights abuses, in order that the joint enterprise between the Nigerian government and Shell Corporation could proceed.
AMY GOODMAN: During Ken Saro-Wiwa’s final visit to the United States, he came on our show on WBAI, the Pacifica Radio station in New York, to Wake-Up Call_. This was just before Ken returned to Nigeria, was arrested, tried and then executed. This is what nigeria">Ken Saro-Wiwa told us.
KEN SARO-WIWA:
Shell does not want to negotiate with the Ogoni people. Each time they’ve come under pressure from local people, their want has always been to run to the Nigerian government and to say to the Nigerian government, "Oil is 90 percent of your foreign exchange earning. If anything happens to oil, your economy will be destroyed. Therefore, you must go and deal with these people, these troublemakers." And most times, the government will oblige them and visit local communities of poor, dispossessed people with a lot of violence.
And when these communities then protested and said, "Look. Look at the amount of violence that is being used against us, even though we are only protesting peacefully," then the oil companies will come and say, "Well, there is no way we can determine how much violence a government decides to use against its own people." So, basically, the local communities have no leverage with the oil companies at all.
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/1/i ... eme_courts
Shell Blamed for New Oil Spill in Southern Nigeria
The oil giant
Shell is being accused of a new oil spill in southern Nigeria. The Nigerian NGO Environmental Rights Action says it has observed an "extensive" spill on the Brass River in the Niger Delta.
Shell has shut down an oil processing site but denies claims of a large spill. The news comes days after Exxon Mobil acknowledged a separate oil spill in the Delta. A U.N. report one year ago said the region will already need 30 years and around $1 billion to at least partially recover from environmental damage caused by major oil companies over several decades.
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/8/17/headlines#8176
Nigeria Seeks Record Fine for Shell Oil Spill
The Nigerian government has ordered the oil giant
Shell to pay a record $5 billion fine for a major offshore oil spill last year. The spill at the Bonga oilfield leaked an estimated 40,000 barrels of oil into the sea, threatening local wildlife and massive pollution along the Nigerian coast. The spill came just four months after the United Nations said it would take 30 years and around $1 billion for a small section of the Niger Delta to recover from environmental damage caused by Shell and other companies.
Shell says the new fine has "no basis."
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/7/18/headlines#7186
Toliko o pričama o nekakvoj paranoji i fašistoidno-eugeničarskim insinuacijama o "slavenskom fatalizmu koji još nije iskorijenjen iz DNK" - čijeg DNK? Valjda još jednog u nizu "nebeskih naroda" - ovaj put duhova Bogumila iz negdje 10-og (prije dolaska mrskih Slavena) u 21-om vijeku?
A što se tiče one patetične priče - "vidi anamo onih(njihovih), što moraš uvijek po (lafo)našima"
, pa gospodo
stotinu Zarubrežnjefta/Gazproma ne bi moglo premašiti jednog Shella, ExxonMobila, ChevronTexaco ili BP-a po kriminalnim orgijama po zemljama tzv. "Trećeg svijeta".
Drugim riječima - ekološkim zločinima tj. ekocidima, svrgavanjima režima i bratsku saradnju s nekim od najgorih tirana zarad "stabilnosti" ili bolje rečeno
kontrolisanog haosa kako bi narod bio u isto vrijeme izbezumljen(jer na taj način ne mogu razviti svijest o svojim pravima na resurse, o ulozi korumpiranih elita s tranim lešinarima itd.) a i dovoljno stabilna klima za kontinuirano izvlačenje resursa(jak podanički režim s paravojnim formacijama, korumpiranim organima izvršne i zakonodavne vlasti itd.).
Za ove zapadnjačke megakorporacije znaju se nedjela - postoje dokazi crno na bijelo pa je lako pokazati o kakvoj ublehi se zapravo radi kad pričaju o razvoju zemlje-resursa kad stranac eksploatiše.
Gdje su informacije o rabotama(ekološke katastrofe, korporativna ciljana ubistva i masakri...) nekog tamo Zarubrežnjefta?
Ovdje će isto biti kao i u pobrojanim u crno zavijenim zemljama - lažni patrioti će, onako podanički, stati na stranu ovih korporacija, popušivši priču podmirene elite o napretku, nekakvoj spasonosnoj slamci koja će nas izvući iz MMF dužničkog ropstva bla bla i bla bla
Biće i onih koji će biti spremni i ubiti eventualne pobunjene ljude-lokalno stanovništvo, slično kao u Africi, Srednjoj i Južnoj Americi...Gdje su velike pare(a oko nafte su ogromne), tu stotinu interesa igra svoje igre, slijepo pored očiju.
Eno Shell bukvalno navija za što bržim globalnim zagrijavanjem kako bi što prije i što lakše bušili naftu na Arktiku
) ali samo pisem na osnovu vlastitog iskustva.
.
