Oil spill: Shell will pay 15 million euros in compensation to N'Delta farmers
Shell announced on Friday that it would pay 15 million euros to farmers in the Niger Delta to compensate them for damage caused by oil pipeline leaks.
A Dutch appeals court ruled last year, after 13 years of legal battles, that Shell's Nigerian subsidiary had to pay for a series of leaks and that the parent company had to install new pipeline equipment to avoid new devastating spills.
Shell said on Friday it had reached an agreement with Dutch environmental group Milieudefensie that has helped affected communities.
“Under the agreement, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC), as the operator of the SPDC joint venture, will pay an amount of 15 million euros for the benefit of communities and individual claimants,” he said in a statement.
The agreement also confirms the installation of a leak detection system on 20 pipeline segments in accordance with the Dutch court order and that remediation work has been completed.
While acknowledging that the settlement follows the Dutch court ruling, the oil company said the agreement "is on a no-liability basis, settles all claims and terminates all ongoing litigation related to the spills".
Four Niger Delta farmers and fishermen sued Shell in the Netherlands to pay for the cleanup of spills from its pipelines in the Niger River Delta, a major oil-producing region.
They were helped by Milieudefensie, the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth.
Shell has always attributed the pollution to sabotage and said it cleaned up the affected areas.
The legal battle lasted so long that the original farmers are now all dead, but their survivors and affected communities carried on.
“It is a great relief to all of us that after years of legal battle with Shell, we will soon receive this money as compensation for all that we have lost,” said Eric Dooh, one of the plaintiffs current.
Milieudefensie director Donald Pols said the settlement would allow the plaintiffs and their communities to finally get on with their lives.
"If we look at the court case as a whole, the major gain is that a new normal has been set: corporations can no longer get away with polluting and ignoring human rights", he said.
"Now they can be called to account," Pols said.
AFP
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Shell announced on Friday that it would pay 15 million euros to farmers in the Niger Delta to compensate them for damage caused by oil pipeline leaks.
A Dutch appeals court ruled last year, after 13 years of legal battles, that Shell's Nigerian subsidiary had to pay for a series of leaks and that the parent company had to install new pipeline equipment to avoid new devastating spills.
Shell said on Friday it had reached an agreement with Dutch environmental group Milieudefensie that has helped affected communities.
“Under the agreement, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC), as the operator of the SPDC joint venture, will pay an amount of 15 million euros for the benefit of communities and individual claimants,” he said in a statement.
The agreement also confirms the installation of a leak detection system on 20 pipeline segments in accordance with the Dutch court order and that remediation work has been completed.
While acknowledging that the settlement follows the Dutch court ruling, the oil company said the agreement "is on a no-liability basis, settles all claims and terminates all ongoing litigation related to the spills".
Four Niger Delta farmers and fishermen sued Shell in the Netherlands to pay for the cleanup of spills from its pipelines in the Niger River Delta, a major oil-producing region.
They were helped by Milieudefensie, the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth.
Shell has always attributed the pollution to sabotage and said it cleaned up the affected areas.
The legal battle lasted so long that the original farmers are now all dead, but their survivors and affected communities carried on.
“It is a great relief to all of us that after years of legal battle with Shell, we will soon receive this money as compensation for all that we have lost,” said Eric Dooh, one of the plaintiffs current.
Milieudefensie director Donald Pols said the settlement would allow the plaintiffs and their communities to finally get on with their lives.
"If we look at the court case as a whole, the major gain is that a new normal has been set: corporations can no longer get away with polluting and ignoring human rights", he said.
"Now they can be called to account," Pols said.
AFP
Please share this story:
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