This is Shells dirty laundry, an ecological stain on its character that predates BPs despoliation of the Gulf of Mexico and will likely outlast it by many years… Given the reputational damage it has incurred from oil spills, not to mention the threat to staff of kidnap or murder, a huge question mark hangs over why Shell is here at all.
By Rob Davies 2 April 2012
Viewed from a helicopter hovering above the Niger Delta, the traces of humanitys thirst for oil are all too evident.
Far below, tell-tale streaks of oil pollution in vivid ochre and indigo mottle the placid waterways that wind through the verdant jungle.
This is Shells dirty laundry, an ecological stain on its character that predates BPs despoliation of the Gulf of Mexico and will likely outlast it by many years. A UN report predicts a 30-year clean-up job just in Ogoniland one of the Deltas worst-affected areas requiring an initial oil industry contribution of $1bn.