LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Half a World From the Gulf, a Spill Scourge 5 Decades Old (front page, June 17), reporting that spills are a major problem in the Niger Delta, misses crucial context that explains why they happen.
You make a comparison between the Exxon Valdez spill and Nigeria. The two are completely different. The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria is the largest oil producer in the Niger Delta. In terms of volume, spills due to human error or equipment failure from its facilities over the last 10 years amounted to about 5 percent of the Exxon Valdez spill volume annually.