{"id":978993,"date":"2023-02-02T00:01:20","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T00:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/?p=420666"},"modified":"2023-02-02T00:01:20","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T00:01:20","slug":"13000-people-from-the-niger-delta-just-sued-shell-for-years-of-oil-spills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/02\/02\/13000-people-from-the-niger-delta-just-sued-shell-for-years-of-oil-spills\/","title":{"rendered":"13,000 People From the Niger Delta Just Sued Shell for Years of Oil Spills"},"content":{"rendered":"
The water<\/u> in Ogale, a rural community in Nigeria, is so toxic and polluted with oil that it comes out brown and stinks of sulphur. Children and families get sick just trying to bathe or stay hydrated. In Bille, a fishing community of around 45 islands surrounded entirely by water, there are no fish left. Oily water seeps into people\u2019s homes, and, without a source of income, money is scarce. The signs that once warned people of the dangers of chronic pollution are covered in rust.<\/p>\n
These Niger Delta communities have been facing pollution caused by Shell for decades, devastating their health and livelihoods. In 2011, the United Nations Environment Programme reported<\/a> that the threat to public health warranted \u201cemergency action.\u201d At the time, the cleanup process would have taken 30 years, if initiated immediately.<\/p>\n It never happened. Shell refused to cooperate, and the situation has only gotten worse, with 55 oil spills in the last\u00a012 years. Amnesty International\u00a0called<\/a> the Niger Delta region \u201cone of the most polluted places on earth.\u201d<\/p>\n On January 27, over 11,300 residents from Ogale \u2014 which has a population of approximately 40,000 \u2014 and 17 local organizations, including churches and schools, filed individual claims at the High Court in London against Shell. With the existing claims from the Bille community, this brings the total number against the oil company to over 13,650.<\/p>\n