jujuman13
DP Veteran
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Nigeria's agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it | World news | The Observer
Quote(We reached the edge of the oil spill near the Nigerian village of Otuegwe after a long hike through cassava plantations. Ahead of us lay swamp. We waded into the warm tropical water and began swimming, cameras and notebooks held above our heads. We could smell the oil long before we saw it – the stench of garage forecourts and rotting vegetation hanging thickly in the air.
The farther we travelled, the more nauseous it became. Soon we were swimming in pools of light Nigerian crude, the best-quality oil in the world. One of the many hundreds of 40-year-old pipelines that crisscross the Niger delta had corroded and spewed oil for several months.
Forest and farmland were now covered in a sheen of greasy oil. Drinking wells were polluted and people were distraught. No one knew how much oil had leaked. "We lost our nets, huts and fishing pots," said Chief Promise, village leader of Otuegwe and our guide. "This is where we fished and farmed. We have lost our forest. We told Shell of the spill within days, but they did nothing for six months.")
Shell or rather (Shell Pertroleum Development Company Nig.) SPDC is how they are termed in Nigeria, have in the past had a history of Pipeline Inspection.
In recent years Pipeline Inspection has become increasingly more difficult, the locals demand Money from the contractors and if that is not paid then they block entry to the flow stations, kidnap the crews doing the work and steal their equipment, letting them have it back after ransom is paid.
Nigeria's agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it | World news | The Observer
Quote(We reached the edge of the oil spill near the Nigerian village of Otuegwe after a long hike through cassava plantations. Ahead of us lay swamp. We waded into the warm tropical water and began swimming, cameras and notebooks held above our heads. We could smell the oil long before we saw it – the stench of garage forecourts and rotting vegetation hanging thickly in the air.
The farther we travelled, the more nauseous it became. Soon we were swimming in pools of light Nigerian crude, the best-quality oil in the world. One of the many hundreds of 40-year-old pipelines that crisscross the Niger delta had corroded and spewed oil for several months.
Forest and farmland were now covered in a sheen of greasy oil. Drinking wells were polluted and people were distraught. No one knew how much oil had leaked. "We lost our nets, huts and fishing pots," said Chief Promise, village leader of Otuegwe and our guide. "This is where we fished and farmed. We have lost our forest. We told Shell of the spill within days, but they did nothing for six months.")
Shell or rather (Shell Pertroleum Development Company Nig.) SPDC is how they are termed in Nigeria, have in the past had a history of Pipeline Inspection.
In recent years Pipeline Inspection has become increasingly more difficult, the locals demand Money from the contractors and if that is not paid then they block entry to the flow stations, kidnap the crews doing the work and steal their equipment, letting them have it back after ransom is paid.