Yesterday evening, Dutch TV broadcast a documentary feature about a terrible legacy of deadly pollution from the Isla refinery in Curacao built and operated for many decades by Shell. In 1985 Shell sold the refinery to the Antilleans for the symbolic sum of one guilder, leaving behind huge environmental damage. The contract contained clauses demanded by Shell that it would never be held liable for anything. Research reports indicate that the health situation for residents is so serious that every year at least eighteen people die from the pollution.
By John Donovan
Yesterday evening, Dutch TV broadcast a documentary feature about a terrible legacy of deadly pollution from the Isla refinery in Curacao built and operated for many decades by Shell.
NETHERLANDS MUST INTERVENE IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCANDAL ON CURACAO
The refinery was established in 1915 and for many years, Shell was the largest employer on the island.
In 1985 Shell sold the refinery to the Antilleans for the symbolic sum of one guilder, leaving behind huge environmental damage. The contract contained clauses demanded by Shell that it would never be held liable for anything. Curacao leased the refinery to Venezuela.