Shell accept liability for Nigerian oil spill

Shell have accepted full liability for the two huge oil spills in Nigeria which have devastated the lives of nearly 70,000 people.

The oil giants could be slapped with a bill of hundreds of millions of dollars to help restore the town of Bodo in Ogoniland which could take almost 20 years to clean up.

According to the Guardian, the oil giant have accepted responsibility for the double rupture in 2008 of the 50-year-old Bodo-Bonny trans-Niger pipeline that pumps 120,000 barrels of oil a day through the community.

Experts say the spills in Bodo could together be as large as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska when 10m gallons of oil was spilt.

Until now, Shell has claimed that less than 40,000 gallons were spilt but Amnesty International believe more than 13m barrels of oil have been spilt in the delta.

The first spill occurred in September 2008 and it took two months for Shell to inspect and put a stop to it.

Then in December, the pipeline broke again in the swamps and it was February 2009 before the oil giants had done anything to control the situation.

Shell’s admission comes after a class action suit was taken out against them on behalf of the communities in Bodo by London law firm Leigh Day and Co.

Proceedings against Shell petroleum development company (SPDC) Nigeria began in the high court in April 2011.

Last week Shell Nigeria said,

"SPDC accepts responsibility under the Oil Pipelines Act for the two oil spills both of which were due to equipment failure.

SPDC acknowledges that it is liable to pay compensation -to those who are entitled to receive such compensation."

In the past, Shell have done little to admit their fault or help the communities in Bodo, offering just £3,500 as well as 50 bags of rice, 50 bags of beans and a few cartons of sugar, tomatoes and groundnut oil.

The offers were rejected as "insulting, provocative and beggarly" by the chiefs of Bodo, but later accepted on legal advice.

Click here to read the full story in The Guardian