Niger Delta bears brunt after 50 years of oil spills

Up to 1.5 million tons of oil, which is 50 times the pollution unleashed in the Exxon Valdez tanker disaster, has been spilled in the ecologically precious Niger Delta over the past 50 years, a report revealed on Oct. 25. A panel of independent experts who traveled to the increasingly tense and lawless region said damage to the fragile mangrove forests over the past 50 years was tantamount to a catastrophic oil spill occurring every 12 months in what is one of the world's most important ecosystems. As well as threatening rare species including primates, fish, turtles and birds, the pollution is destroying the livelihoods of many of the 20 million people living there, damaging crops and fueling the upsurge in violence, it was claimed. The delta is home to 2,700 miles of the continent's remaining 3,500 miles of mangrove. Scientists believe some 60 percent of West Africa's fish stocks breed in the rivers and swamps along the coast. The report, compiled by World Wildlife Fund UK, the World Conservation Union and representatives from the federal ministry of Abuja and the Nigeria Conservation Foundation, concluded that the delta was now one of the five most polluted spots on the planet. Far from benefiting local people, rural communities have borne the brunt of the environmental and social costs of development, experts said. The cost of the leaking crude, much of it from outdated equipment and pipes, is estimated to be costing Nigeria $10 million a day. The report concluded that the impact of oil and gas drilling was a "significant contributor to the current violence, sabotage of pipelines/installations and instability in the region." On Oct. 25, villagers protesting against oil production in the region stormed and seized three Shell oil platforms, forcing the closure of each pumping station. Earlier this year 17 people were killed when local militants stormed a Royal Dutch Shell facility, prompting the oil giant to pull out hundreds of workers and close down wells. Shell is one of the biggest players in the region and one of the most heavily criticized. Its role came under the international spotlight following the execution of the playwright turned human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995 by Nigeria's military dictatorship. Last year the company extracted 900,000 barrels of crude oil a day from its activities in the Niger Delta. Environmentalists accuse the company of failing to meet promises to replace ageing pipes and swamp flowlines that, it is claimed, are steadily leaking oil into the once pristine waters of the delta. Shell estimates that 95 percent of discharges over the past five years have been caused by sabotage. But a spokeswoman for the company insisted that the oil giant was meeting its commitments and continuously monitoring equipment, although continuing violence meant it could not meet all its targets. The authors found sites at Kidaro Creek and Rivers State where oil products had been buried. Old drilling equipment in other areas, officially thought to have been cleared up, was discovered to be still leaching oil into the environment. The report accused the oil companies of "double standards" by using technologies not in line with more advanced practices carried out elsewhere in the world. It called for international action to implement an immediate rescue plan, backed by the oil and gas industries which have exploited the region for up to half a century.