Shell: Own Up and Pay Up to Clean Up the Niger Delta
Oil contamination has devastated the lives of the people in the Niger Delta -- destroyed their livelihoods, undermined their access to clean water and food, and put their health at serious risk. Hundreds of thousands of people are affected, particularly the poorest. The failure by the oil industry to properly address pollution exacerbates human suffering and environmental damage. For example, the two major oil spills which occurred in 2008 in Bodo, Ogoniland continued for weeks before they were stopped, and three years on Shell has still not cleaned up the pollution.
In August 2011, following its landmark assessment of oil contamination in Ogoniland, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) found that Shell has failed to effectively clean up oil pollution for years, and identified $1 billion as the start-up amount needed to establish an independent fund to clean up pollution in Ogoniland. Call on Shell to OWN UP to the reality of pollution in the Niger Delta, and PAY UP for the costs of a CLEAN UP operation -- the full $1 billion recommended by the UNEP report. Read More...