Briefing: Shell - Own up, pay up, clean up
Overview
In August and December 2008, two major oil spills disrupted the lives of the 69,000 or so people living in Bodo, a town in Ogoniland in the Niger Delta. Both spills continued for weeks before they were stopped. Estimates suggest that the volume of oil spilled was as large as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.
More than three years later, the prolonged failure of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria to clean up the spill, continues to have catastrophic consequences for the Bodo community. Oil pollution is everywhere – in the water, the mangroves, and the soil.
This briefing examines the devastating human rights impact of these major oil spills, highlighting Shell’s failure to clean up, and Amnesty International’s calls for action.