Shell’s Claims About Sabotage Of Oil Pipelines In Niger Delta Challenged

3 August 2012

(RTTNews) – Amnesty International and the Center for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) on Friday challenged the investigation process into oil spills in the Niger Delta, as inconsistencies in Shell’s (RDS-A) claims about sabotage were revealed.

Experts have examined evidence from the latest oil spill from Shell’s poorly maintained pipelines in the Bodo creek area and confirmed that it strongly indicates that the leak is due to corrosion of the pipeline. However, Shell appears to be ignoring the evidence of corrosion.

“The investigation process into oil spills in the Niger Delta is a fiasco. There is more investment in public relations messaging than in facing up to the fact that much of the oil infrastructure is old, poorly maintained and prone to leaks – some of them devastating in terms of their human rights impact,” said Audrey Gaughran, Director of Global Issues at Amnesty International.

“No matter what evidence is presented to Shell about oil spills, they constantly hide behind the ‘sabotage’ excuse and dodge their responsibility for massive pollution that is due to their failure to properly maintain their infrastructure and make it safe, and to properly clean up oil spills,” she added.

Amnesty and CEHRD asked U..S company, Accufacts, which has several years experience in examining oil infrastructure, to examine photographs of the pipe at the leak point. They stated: “This is apparently due to external corrosion. Notice the layered loss of metal on the outside of the pipe around the “stick” from pipe wall loss (thinning) due to external corrosion. It is a very familiar pattern that we have seen many times on other pipelines.”

Shell will now remove the affected length of pipe to a Shell facility where, according to the company, tests will be done. The community and local environment and human rights activists are afraid that this process – totally under the control of Shell – lacks transparency and the outcome will not be credible.

Amnesty alleges that Shell’s pipelines are old and many have not been properly maintained or replaced, with local people and NGOs reporting that the pipes in the Bodo area have not been replaced since 1958. The London-based human rights watchdog says when it asked Shell to confirm the age and status of the pipes the company did not respond.

One year ago, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) issued a major report on the effects of oil pollution in the Ogoniland region of the Niger Delta. Little has changed, as this latest oil spill at Bodo demonstrates. Among its findings, UNEP confirmed that Nigerian regulatory agencies “are at the mercy of oil companies when it comes to conducting site inspections”. UNEP also found that Shell had failed to adhere to its own standards in relation to maintaining its infrastructure.

Thousands of oil spills have occurred in the Niger Delta since the oil industry began operations in the late 1950s. Corrosion of the pipes and equipment failure were responsible for the majority of spills. In recent years sabotage, vandalism and theft of oil have also contributed to pollution. However, corrosion and equipment failure remain very serious problems which have never been addressed.

Oil companies are responsible for ensuring that, as far as possible, their equipment is not vulnerable to tampering. However, Amnesty says Shell has not responded to request to for information on any measures it has taken to prevent sabotage and vandalism.

On Friday, Amnesty and CEHRD published a report on an oil investigation at Bodo in June/July 2012. The report focuses on the lack of transparency in the process and the failure of Shell to disclose any information on the condition or age of its pipes.

Since 2011 Shell has posted oil spill investigation data on its website. This move was welcomed by Amnesty and CEHRD. But Amnesty says the process on the ground remains highly problematic, and there is a lack of independence and transparency in the investigations themselves.

SOURCE

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