Bombshell: 2008 Shell Nigeria Oil Spill 60 Times Size Originally Claimed

Imagine this is the Chukchi Sea in midwinter......

--- by Steve Horn

Amnesty International and the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) dropped a bombshell today.

The two NGOs unveiled documents pertaining to the Royal Dutch Shell Oil 2008 Bodo oil pipeline spill that showed that 60 times the amount of oil Shell had originally reported spilling have actually spilled in the ravaged Niger Delta coastal town with a population of 60,000 people.
In a press release, Amnesty explained its findings:

The previously unpublished assessment, carried out by US firm Accufacts, found that between 1,440 and 4,320 barrels of oil were flooding the Bodo area each day following the leak.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.

Adding insult to injury, Shell has yet to do a damn thing about it. “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,” wrote Amnesty.

This report comes on the heels of two-year anniversary of the BP Gulf Coast Oil Spill and in the wake of pipeline infrastructure springing up like wildfire all around North America for the unconventional oil and gas industry. It also comes two months after the Obama Administration Interior Department’s approval of Shell’s plan to begin drilling for oil off of the North Slope of Alaska in the Arctic starting in July.

Patrick Naagbanton, Coordinator of CEHRD summed up the situation, stating:

The evidence of Shell’s bad practice in the Niger Delta is mounting. 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.

A tragic situation for Bodo’s citizens, to put it mildly.

[Let's see how long it takes for the Anchorage Daily News, APRN or the Alaska Dispatch to cover this.  It is an important story for Alaskans.  If it were up to me, I'd get some Bodo residents up to Barrow, Pt. Hope, Pt. Lay, Wainright and other communities as soon as possible, to share their stories with our own residents --- Philip Munger]