Mon May 4, 2009 3:49pm BST
* US top court rules for Shell, railroads on cleanup costs
* At issue California contaminated industrial site
WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday for Shell Oil Co (SHOI.PK) and units of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp (BNI.N) and Union Pacific Corp (UNP.N) in a dispute over environmental cleanup costs at a contaminated industrial site in Arvin, California.
Shell, an affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L), and the two railroads argued they should not be held liable for the majority of the more than $8 million spent by the government on cleanup costs at the abandoned farm chemical storage facility.
Voting 8-1, the justices overturned a ruling by a U.S. appeals court that Shell and the railroads could be held liable for almost the full cost of the cleanup even though their roles in the soil and groundwater contamination had been relatively minor.
The railroads said the owners of the chemical storage company at the site had leased only a small parcel of their land while Shell said it merely shipped chemicals to the facility.
The Supreme Court ruled that Shell is not liable as an arranger for the contamination at the facility and said Shell took numerous steps to encourage its distributors to reduce the likelihood of spills.
The high court also ruled that a federal judge had reasonably apportioned the railroads’ share of the cleanup costs at just 9 percent.
The ruling was a defeat for the federal government.
(Editing by Maureen Bavdek)
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
