Do U Know?..history or maybe future

1.Niger Delta Oil Pollution

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An estimated thirteen million barrels of oil have been spilled in the Niger Delta during the last fifty years, mainly from oil operations jointly owned by Shell and the Nigerian government, making the delta one of the most polluted areas in the world. Other multinational oil company operations involved in spills include Chevron and Exxon Mobil. Civil unrest has flared over how the government distributes oil wealth; militants have kidnapped and killed oil workers, blown up pipelines, and stolen oil. Nigeria also faces unrest over extensive damage to fisheries as well as water and soil quality. In 2008, four Nigerian farmers filed a lawsuit at The Hague in the Netherlands against Shell, alleging negligence; and a community affected by a 2010 Exxon spill is demanding the company pay $1 billion in damages. Shell says only a small percentage of the spills are from operations failures and that most are caused by sabotage and theft stemming from the country's internal conflict. In 2009, the company settled a lawsuit accusing it of colluding with the government in the 1995 execution of six oil activists--but admitted no wrongdoing.


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OK Shell) Just dirty company which using and working in corrupted and poor countries, where leaders of these countries love money more than own peoples,sad.

A major oil spill in the Niger Delta was far worse than Shell previously admitted, according to an independent assessment obtained by Amnesty International and the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), which exposes how the oil giant dramatically under-estimated the quantities involved.

The spill in 2008, caused by a fault in a Shell pipeline, resulted in tens of thousands of barrels of oil polluting the land and creek surrounding Bodo, a Niger Delta town of some 69,000 people.

The previously unpublished assessment, carried out by US firm Accufacts Inc. found that between 1,440 and 4,320 barrels of oil were flooding the Bodo area each day following the leak. The Nigerian regulators have confirmed that the spill lasted for 72 days.

Shell’s official investigation report claims only 1,640 barrels of oil were spilt in total. But based on the independent assessment the total amount of oil spilt over the 72 day period is between 103,000 barrels and 311,000 barrels.

“The difference is staggering: even using the lower end of the Accufacts estimate, the volume of oil spilt at Bodo was more than 60 times the volume Shell has repeatedly claimed leaked,” said Audrey Gaughran, Director of Global Issues at Amnesty International.

Shell’s oil spill investigation report also claims that the spill started on 5 October 2008 – while the community and Nigerian regulators have confirmed a start date of 28 August 2008.

What is not in dispute is that Shell did not stop the spill until 7 November – four weeks after it claims it began – and 10 weeks after the start date given by the community and the regulator.

“Even if we use the start date given by Shell, the volume of oil spilt is far greater than Shell recorded,” said Audrey Gaughran.

Converting the amount into litres, Shell’s figure is just over 260,000 litres, while the lowest estimate based on the Accufacts assessment, and using Shell’s start date would be 7.8 million litres.

However, using the start date given by the community and regulator and the higher end of the estimate, then it is possible that as much as over 49 million litres of oil spilt at Bodo.

The publication of the independent assessment coincides with a global week of action in which people from across the world are calling on Shell to stop hiding from the devastating impact of its operations in the Niger Delta on people’s lives and the environment.

The serious under-recording at Bodo also has wider implications: Shell repeatedly claims to its investors, customers and the media that the majority of the oil spilt in the Niger Delta is caused by sabotage.

The basis for this claim is the oil spill investigation process, which is deeply flawed and lacks credibility. The cause of spills, the volume of oil spilt, and other important parameters like the start date, are not recorded in any credible way.

Bodo is one example but Amnesty International and CEHRD have also exposed serious failings in other oil spill investigations.

Both organizations have repeatedly called for an independent process for investigation of oil spills, and an end to the system that allows oil companies to have such influence over the process.

Shell initially claimed to the media that 85 per cent of oil spilt in the Niger Delta in 2008 was caused by sabotage. The company later admitted that this figure did not include a major oil spill that was subsequently found to be due to operational failures.

Based on the new evidence obtained by Amnesty International and CEHRD about the 2008 Bodo oil spill more than half of the oil spilt in the Niger Delta in 2008 was due to operational failures – and possibly as much as 80 per cent. However, given the serious flaws in the oil spill investigation process, all oil spills would have to be subjected to independent assessment to obtain accurate figures.

“Sabotage is a real and serious problem in the Niger Delta, but Shell misuses the issue as a PR shield and makes claims that simply don’t stand up to scrutiny,” said Audrey Gaughran.

More than three years after the Bodo oil spill, Shell has yet to conduct a proper clean up or to pay any official compensation to the affected communities. After years of trying to seek justice in Nigeria the people of Bodo have now taken their claim to the UK courts.

“The evidence of Shell’s bad practice in the Niger Delta is mounting,” said Patrick Naagbanton, Coordinator of CEHRD. “Shell seems more interested in conducting a PR operation than a clean up operation. The problem is not going away; and sadly neither is the misery for the people of Bodo.”

2.Ecuador's Amazon Degradation


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Company: Chevron/Texaco, United States

Four hundred thirty million barrels of toxic oil waste have been released into watersheds from oil operations in the Amazon over nearly thirty years, which the indigenous community contends is causing widespread health problems. Indigenous communities sued for damages for cleanup in U.S. courts, but the case was later moved to courts in Ecuador at Chevron's request. Chevron argues Petroecuador, the state-owned oil firm it partnered with during that time period, is responsible for the environmental damage, and it filed an international arbitration suit at The Hague against the Ecuadoran government for trying to avoid contractual responsibilities. In February 2011, the court rules in favor of the plaintiffs for $8.6 billion in damages plus another $9 billion if Chevron fails to apologize. But Chevron vows to challenge the ruling via The Hague and U.S. courts.

3.Peru's Amazon Degradation



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Company: Occidental Petroleum, United States

An estimated nine billion barrels of oil wastewater was released into Amazonian watersheds, which members of Peru's indigenous Achuar community say has caused unexplained diseases, tumors, skin ailments, and miscarriages from oil exposure. In 2007, Peru's Achuar community sued Occidental in U.S. courts for the environmental and health damage caused by the pollution. Plaintiffs allege the company ignored industry standards and violated U.S., Peruvian, and international law. The company says there is no evidence of detrimental health effects. The case is still pending in U.S. federal court, but in 2010 plaintiffs also took their case to the company's May shareholder meeting.

4.Papua New Guinea's Panguna Mine War



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Company: Rio Tinto, Britain/Australia

The residents of Bougainville Island allege large-scale environmental destruction from Rio Tinto's Panguna copper mine, one of the world's largest open-pit mines. Since the mine was opened in 1972, about one billion tons of waste rock containing sulfur, arsenic, copper, zinc, cadmium, and mercury was dumped into the local river system, rendering a forty-mile portion of the system biologically dead, according to environmental activists. The situation gave rise in 1989 to a decade-long revolt by residents of Bougainville against the government for unanswered grievances. In 2000, island residents sued Rio Tinto in U.S. federal court under the Alien Tort Claims Act, which allows claims against companies that violate international law. Rio Tinto has called the suit's allegations false and defamatory. The mine has remained closed since the uprising, but Rio Tinto Bougainville Copper said it hopes to reopen the mine in the next five years.

5.Italy's Seveso Dioxin Cloud



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Company: Givaudan, Switzerland

A dioxin cloud from an accident at a chemical plant near Seveso, Italy, sickened at least two thousand people and caused eighty thousand animals to be slaughtered to keep the poison from entering the food chain. Five employees of Givaudan's subsidiary were criminally prosecuted and convicted, and the company was required to pay 20 billion lire (roughly $13 million) in compensation following a settlement in 1980. The accident also prompted Europe to adopt the Seveso Directive in 1982, regulating manufacture and storage of hazardous materials.



Dioxin is the name of the group of highly toxic chemicals. Dioxin has no uses, it is formed as a result of burning or processing organic chemicals and plastics that contain chlorine. It is one of the most toxic man-made organic chemicals second only to radioactive waste. Dioxin is a carcinogen and has no alternatives of alternative methods of processing to remove these substances.
On July 10, 1976, a bursting disc on a chemical reactor ruptured at the
Industrie Chimiche Meda Societa Azionaria chemical plant in Meda,
causing the Seveso Disaster. A cloud of chemicals containing Dioxin
wafted an estimated 50 meters into the sky and affected many
surrounding towns but the most affected was Seveso, as about 3,000 kg
of chemicals were released. There were few human deaths directly related
to the incident but it did have some effects. The amount of cancer slightly
increased, excess mortality from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases
was uncovered, and more were diagnosed with diabetes, although results
were considered inconclusive. Burn-like skin lesions or Choracne, a skin
disease typically associated with Dioxin, appeared in kids within a few
hours. Also, an incredibly high proportion of females were born and there
was a high amount of spontaneous abortions. Animals were also
affected. Many animals like rabbits died shortly after and many were
slaughtered in fear of contaminating the food chain. The environment is
slowly beginning to recover and grass and trees are growing. The
government reacted by separating the affected area into zones based on
surface soil concentrations of Dioxin. Some people were evacuated and a
special loan was raised to settle individual compensation claims. The waste from the plant was put into waste drums which had been designed for the storage of nuclear waste and disposed of in a legal way. Finally, this accident caused a lot of important information to be learned about the effects of Dioxin and a lesson learned would be that “it is better to take care of the environment before these things happen. Not after."


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6.France's Amoco Cadiz Tanker Spill



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Company: Amoco, United States

An Amoco tanker oil spill dumped an estimated two million barrels of oil off the coast of France, polluting approximately two hundred miles of coastline and harming wildlife. The disaster occurred just one month after a meeting of the MARPOL convention aimed at expanding safety requirements for tankers that would make them less likely to pollute. In response to a suit brought by the French government, businesses, and private citizens, a U.S. district court ordered Amoco to pay $200 million in cleanup costs and damages to the French government and towns. A sufficient number of countries ratified the MARPOL convention in 1982, and the new international rules for tankers went into force a year later--but it is unclear how much of an impact the incident had on ratification.

7.India's Bhopal Cyanide Gas Leak


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Company: Union Carbide, United States

The leak of methyl isocyanate gas from a chemical plant operated by U.S. company Union Carbide in Bhopal, India, killed at least four thousand people, sickened an estimated half million people, and has left the survivors with numerous health ailments, including blindness, chronic respiratory trouble, and birth defects. The Indian government accepted a settlement of about $470 million from Union Carbide in 1989 that victims say is inadequate. Victims continue to fight with the government over compensation, and India continues to seek the extradition of the company's CEO from the United States for criminal prosecution. Following the incident, the Indian government passed a number of laws to address industrial accidents, including the 1986 Environment Protection Act and the 1991 Public Liability Insurance Act.


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The Bhopal disaster was one of the world’s worst industrial catastrophes. It occurred on the night of December 2–3, 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. A leak of methyl isocynate gas and other chemicals from the plant resulted in the exposure of hundreds of thousands of people.

Estimates vary on the death toll. The official immediate death toll was 2,259 and the government of Madhya Pradesh confirmed a total of 3,787 deaths related to the gas release. Others estimate 3,000-8000 {Greenpeace} died within weeks and another 8,000-20,000 {Greenpeace}have since died from gas-related diseases. According to the Indian Council for Medical Research, 25,000 people have died from exposure since the initial explosion. But this is not some quarter-century-old tragedy to shake one’s head over and move on. It’s estimated that 10 to 30 people continue to die from exposure every month. A government affidavit in 2006 stated the leak caused 558,125 injuries including 38,478 temporary partial and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries.

The UCIL factory was built in 1969 to produce the pesticide Sevin (UCC’s brand name for carbaryl) using methyl isocyanate (MIC) as an intermediate. An MIC production plant was added in 1979.

During the night of December 2–3, 1984, water entered a tank containing 42 tons of MIC. The resulting exothermic reaction increased the temperature inside the tank to over 200 °C (392 °F) and raised the pressure. The tank vented releasing toxic gases into the atmosphere. The gases were blown by northwesterly winds over Bhopal. The problem was made worse by the mushrooming of slums in the vicinity of the plant, non-existent catastrophe plans, and shortcomings in health care and socio-economic rehabilitation.

Factors leading to the magnitude of the gas leak include:

Storing MIC (methyl isocyanate) in large tanks and filling beyond recommended levels
Poor maintenance after the plant ceased MIC production at the end of 1984
Failure of several safety systems (due to poor maintenance)
Safety systems being switched off to save money—including the MIC tank refrigeration system which could have mitigated the disaster severity



Union Carbide negotiated a settlement with the Indian Government in 1989 for $470 million – a total of only $370 to $533 per victim – a sum too small to pay for most medical bills. In 1987, a Bhopal District Court charged Union Carbide officials, including then CEO Warren Anderson, with “culpable homicide, grievous assault and other serious offences. Anderson was declared a fugitive from justice by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal on February 1, 1992, for failing to appear at the court hearings in a culpable homicide case in which he was named the chief defendant. The chief judicial magistrate, Prakash Mohan Tiwari, issued an arrest warrant for Anderson on July 31, 2009. The United States has declined to extradite him citing “a lack of evidence.” Anderson, now lives in the Hamptons (and owns several other homes across the U.S.), even though there’s an international arrest warrant out for him for culpable homicide.
Union Carbide was bought by Dow Chemical (the company that made napalm for the U.S. to use in the Vietnam War) in 2001, and Dow claims the legal case was resolved in 1989, with responsibility for continued cleanup now falling to the local state government. In June 2010, seven ex-employees, including the former UCIL chairman, were convicted in Bhopal of causing death by negligence and sentenced to two years imprisonment and a fine of about $2,000 each, the maximum punishment allowed by law. An eighth former employee was also convicted, but died before judgment was passed.


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8.Romania's Baia Mare Cyanide Spill


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Company: Esmeralda Explorations, Australia

A gold mine in Romania spilled more than 34 million gallons of cyanide into the Lupes, Somes, Tisza, and Danube Rivers. The spill decimated aquatic and plant life for dozens of miles downstream, affecting the local fishing industry and impeding access to drinking water for residents of Serbia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria for several months. Hungary sued the mining company for about $200 million in damages to fisheries in 2001. A few months after the incident, mining resumed, but in 2005, an EU judge banned mining on 85 percent of the site, pending further investigation. Efforts to ban cyanide use in mining in Romania were repeatedly rejected, but in May 2010, the EU parliament banned cyanide use in mining across the European Union. The ban is expected to go into effect at the end of 2011.


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9.Ivory's Coast's Toxic Waste Dumping



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Company: Trafigura, Switzerland/Britain

Four hundred tons of toxic waste consisting of caustic soda and petroleum residue were transported from Amsterdam to Abidjan in the Ivory Coast and dumped into the city's waste system. The deaths of seventeen people and illnesses of as many as one hundred thousand are linked to the waste. Trafigura has admitted no wrongdoing and blamed a subcontractor for the incident but has paid nearly $250 million in damages and cleanup costs. In July 2010, a Dutch court imposed a fine of nearly $1.3 million on Trafigura for illegally exporting toxic waste. The company faces another criminal lawsuit in The Hague.

10.Deep Water Oil Spill


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Company: BP, Britain

An explosion from an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, which was drilling in underwater depths of more than a mile, killed eleven people and caused the largest oil spill in U.S. history, which took nearly three months to stop. Beaches and wildlife experienced significant damage as U.S. officials struggled to contain and clean up the spill, estimated at nearly five million barrels of oil. The U.S. government pressured BP into establishing a $20 billion escrow account to pay for damages and cleanup. The incident also had significant repercussions for U.S. energy policy. The U.S. government placed a temporary ban on offshore drilling, particularly in deep water. The incident has also led to discussions between the U.S. and British governments over the treatment of BP.



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BP one of the bloodest and darkest trade marks in the world.