Oil spill at Goi Creek, Nigeria, August 2010. Photo source: ©© Friends Of The Earth
In October 2004 a major oil spill occurred in the Trans-Niger pipeline, which runs through the Ogoniland to the Bonny Export Terminal. Following the spill, fire broke out. The oil and the fire reached the mangrove forest in the Tidal region of the village of Goi. For three days Shell unsuccessfully attempted to extinguish the fire. After four days the disastrous aftermath could be seen: 15 hectares of mangrove forest were devastated, all the fish killed and hundreds of trees with high economic value (palm trees, mango trees, coconut palm, avocado and more) had gone up in flames. It was not until July 2007, 33 months after the October 2004 oil spill, that Shell began the clean-up… Captions: “Goi Case Against Nigeria,” EJ Atlas
Excerpts;
A $1bn clean-up of one of the world’s most oil-polluted regions will be officially launched on Thursday by the Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari. But it will be at least 18 months before full remedial work starts in Ogoniland in the Niger delta, and possibly 25 years before all the swamps, creeks, fishing grounds and mangroves are restored after decades of spills by Shell, the national oil firm and other oil companies.
Read Full Article, Guardian UK
Oil pollution in Niger Delta: Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland Report; Unep (08-04-2011)
A report by the UN Environment Programme, which carried out a 14-month assessment of pollution from over 50 years of oil operations in Ogoniland – Niger Delta region, has found widespread and devastating oil pollution that may require the world’s biggest ever clean-up, that could take 20-30 years. The UNEP also called for the oil industry and the Nigerian government to contribute $1 billion to a clean-up fund for the region to properly address this “tragic legacy.”
Niger Delta: Shell’s Manifestly False Claims About Oil Pollution Exposed, Again, Amnesty International (11-09-2015)
Claims by oil giant Shell that it has cleaned up heavily polluted areas of the Niger Delta are blatantly false, Amnesty International and the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) said in a new report published November 3rd…
