Shell said today it had contained oil leaked from a failed
pump within a flowstation on Nembe Creek though local residents disputed this,
saying it had spread to mangrove swamps. Shell said it had shut down the oil
processing facility over a pump failure, but denied reports that a significant
amount of oil had spilled in the area.
The flowstation in the Nembe Creek area of Bayelsa state has
been closed. Shell said that “some oil escaped from the seal into the saver pit
in the flowstation, with some sheen observed (in the area. The pump has been
repaired.” Nigerian NGO Environmental Rights Action sent a team to visit the
site and reported that there was a spill. The head of the group, Nnimmo Bassey,
described the spill as extensive.
Oil spills from equipment failures or loading accidents are
common in the swampy Niger Delta region of Africa's top energy producer.
The Anglo-Dutch oil major says locals sometimes exaggerate the
impact in the hope of boosting their compensation claims. The government and oil firms have pledged to
clean up the region and other parts of the Delta, but residents say they have
seen very little action. Armed gangs
also tamper with pipelines to steal crude and Shell's Nembe Creek trunk line
has been subject to numerous spills in recent years, many due to sabotage.
A landmark UN report in August last year slammed the
government and multinational oil companies, particularly Shell, for 50 years of
oil pollution that has devastated the Ogoniland region of the Niger Delta. The
government and oil firms have pledged to clean up the region and other parts of
the Delta, but residents say they have seen very little action.
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