Disaster in the Delta: Workers Accused of Profiting from Oil Spills in Nigeria

December 22, 2020

A new documentary reports that employees of Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary are encouraging attacks on pipelines to pocket funds intended for environmental cleanup.

A man walks alongside land tainted by an oil spill near Kegbara Dere, Nigeria. Friends of the Earth International. CC BY-SA 2.0

As the largest oil producer in Africa, Nigeria has long struggled to balance the demands of multinational corporations with the needs of its own people. The country provides a clear example of the resource curse, as the government turns a blind eye toward endemic corruption in the oil and gas industries. The Niger Delta, home of Nigeria’s oil reserves, has become a land of lawlessness and environmental catastrophe with no clear end in sight.

For decades, Royal Dutch Shell has been in the crosshairs of both environmental and human rights activists over its role in the Niger Delta. Now, the Anglo-Dutch oil company is facing claims that its employees deliberately sabotaged its own pipelines to profit from environmental cleanup funds.

In a documentary released on Dec. 10, Dutch television program Zembla and environmental group Milieudefensie teamed up to investigate claims of malpractice by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC). This group is a joint venture between the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Shell, which runs all operations.

Research focused on the village of Ikarama, where there have been 30 reported oil spills in the last 13 years alone. The region surrounding the community has become so polluted that agriculture and fishing barely yield any income for locals. Frustration with oil companies has mounted, leading some residents to vandalize pipelines to channel their frustration.

Per the report, Royal Dutch Shell’s employees saw an opening. They began to encourage local youths to sabotage pipelines so they could receive funds necessary for environmental cleanup. Workers for the oil titan received vast sums of money for “eco-friendly” measures, and members of the Ikarama community were hired to restore the land.

The SPDC denies responsibility for the oil leaks, instead blaming local criminals and gangs. The group said in a statement that, “As of now, we are not aware of any staff or contractor having been involved in acts causing oil spills in the Niger Delta.” The SPDC further claimed that it investigates all credible reports of misconduct and addresses situations as needed.

A sign points out Shell’s Oloibiri well, the first drilled in West Africa. Rhys Thom. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

In the eyes of Cees van Dam, a professor of international business and human rights at the University of Rotterdam, the accusations are credible. “In the Netherlands,” he notes, “this would certainly be considered a criminal offense. Intentional destruction of property, intentional environmental pollution, these are serious issues that no single company would accept from its employees.”

Moreover, employees of the SPDC and residents of Ikarama attest to the claims addressed in the documentary. Saboteurs insist that they vandalize the pipelines “out of hunger” while a former Shell security guard said that supervisors and employees “split the money from the cleanup.”

Making matters worse, the former security guard said that “the recovery department from Shell sabotages the pipelines. If the cleanup will take seven months, they’ll stop after only three months.” In other words, the land remains in disarray even after remediation measures conclude.

In the documentary, Zembla claims that local employees and villagers were far from the only ones aware of the scheme. The SPDC, the Nigerian police and the Dutch embassy in Abuja also received word of the process from concerned locals. Then Dutch ambassador Robert Petri even visited Ikarama in 2018 and pledged to “take what is happening here … and we will share our experiences and information with both Shell and the government.” No further investigations have occurred.

As such, the process of intentional environmental degradation continues. As the alleged scheme moves into the spotlight, there is an opportunity for corruption in the Niger Delta to be extinguished. The region’s troubled past and present are intrinsically tied to the oil industry, but hope remains that a more transparent future may be just around the corner.

Tensions Soar Following Racially Motivated Murders of Three Guyanese Teenagers

September 17, 2020

Following a hotly contested election, the murders of three Guyanese teenagers have sparked renewed racial tensions in Guyana between the country’s two main ethnic groups, Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese. This comes as the world is having a broader conversation on racial justice, which was sparked by the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in May.

The bodies of Afro-Guyanese teenagers Isaiah and Joel Henry were found mutilated in coconut fields in the Mahaica-Berbice region on Sept. 6. Haresh Singh, an Indo-Guyanese teenager, was killed three days later while trying to pass through a protest that had started in response to the initial murders.

“I will work day and night to get to the bottom of what happened to those teens,” President Irfaan Ali said in a press release. “Safety and security in all of the communities remain a top priority. As you can see, there is more visibility on the ground, more resources on the ground … We cannot tolerate lawlessness and criminality. We have to fix what went wrong and move forward.”

Volda Lawrence, chairperson of the political party People’s National Congress Reform, released a statement condemning the racist murders and stating that racism cannot be combated with more racism.

“My brothers and sisters, our protest must not end until justice is served,” Lawrence said. “I am resolute in my stance to go the full mile with you, until we achieve our desired outcome, justice. But we must protest in a peaceful and civil manner, doing so with respect for human life, dignity and property. Our protest must be solution-oriented and not driven by chaos, violence and destruction. For those that have utilized violence or caused destruction, please refrain from such acts as we seek justice for those who were taken from us.”

In response to the three racially motivated murders, the Guyana Human Rights Association plans to submit a formal request for the United Nations to investigate the killings with forensic pathology.

“This call is not intended to cast doubt on the capacity or impartiality of local investigators, so much as a response to the deep distrust accompanying the political polarization of the society,” the organization said in a statement on Sept. 8. “These callous murders are not seen as isolated. Both sides are quick to see them as a continuation of earlier ethnic upheavals … Both sides feel accumulated bitterness towards a system that has accommodated such turmoil.”

The protests surrounding the murders parallel those around the world in support of racial equality. Hundreds of thousands of people globally have continued to protest in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery earlier this year. This has since inspired activists to broaden the movement, highlighting other instances of racial injustice in their own communities including police brutality against Indigenous Australians.

What differs in the case of Guyana is that while racism has been an issue in the country since its inception, tensions have increased following massive oil discoveries and the election of President Ali in March.

The discovery of oil off the coast of Guyana has set the country on course to expand its economy by 50% by the end of 2020, which would give it the fastest-growing economy in the world in a time when a global recession looms due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The presidential race, which was between then-incumbent David Granger, who was backed by Afro-Guyanese supporters, and Ali, who is now South America’s first Muslim head of state and was backed by Indo-Guyanese supporters, centered around racializing the oil discoveries by both candidates claiming that their supporters would lose out on profits if the other candidate was elected.

Deodat Persaud, a member of Guyana’s Ethnic Relations Committee, told The New York Times that “racism is connected to political power in Guyana.”

In the week that has followed since the initial murders, President Ali has visited with the families of all three slain teenagers and has ordered the government to begin enforcing the Racial Hostility Act and the Cybercrime Act in an effort to crack down on virtual hate speech.

Jacob is a recent graduate from the University of California San Diego where he majored in Political Science and minored in Spanish Language Studies. He previously served as the News Editor for The UCSD Guardian, and hopes to shed light on social justice issues in his work.

Arctic oil spill over time as seen by the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite. CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Russia’s Oil Disaster in the Arctic Circle

June 11, 2020

On June 4th, 20,000 tons of diesel fuel spilled into the Russian Arctic after a fuel reservoir collapsed at a power plant near the city of Norilsk. It is considered Russia’s second largest oil spill in modern history. The site of the spill is the Ambarnaya River. The site of the spill, the Ambarnaya River, has turned into a deep red pool of deadly oil. Since then, Russian President Vladimir Putin has instituted a state of emergency for the region around Norilsk, and investigations into the power plant are beginning.

In terms of economics, it is vital that Russia acts with speed in order to clean up the oil, as they are the world’s third largest oil producer. Environmentally, though, the disaster is even worse. This oil spill has the potential to wipe out entire species in the region, literally poisoning and suffocating the plants and animals that rely on the Ambarnaya.

How it happened

There was a slight delay between the actual spill and reporting of the incident to the public, so the investigation process is playing catch-up. As investigations are ongoing, it is not entirely clear how such a massive disaster could have happened. The power plant claims that the fuel reservoir possibly collapsed due to thawing of permafrost below it. This could be a result of the larger issue of global warming and over-construction on unstable permafrost.

Norilsk, Siberia, Russia. GRIDArendal. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Norilsk Nickel, the company that owns the power plant under investigation, is a huge economic force in Russia as they lead the world in nickel and palladium production. This has not stopped the Russian government from taking the power plant director, Vyacheslav Starostin, into custody. It is pursuing a criminal case of pollution and alleged negligence against the company.

What is being done

Putin began the work to remedy the spill by declaring a state of emergency over the region, but he expects the company to pay for the costs of damages. In collaboration with Norilsk Nickel, the Russian government’s state of emergency allows for more clean up personnel to be dispatched to the area. According to BBC, Oleg Mitvol, former deputy head of Russia's environmental watchdog Rosprirodnadzor, said there had "never been such an accident in the Arctic zone". Mitvol said the clean up could potentially cost 100bn roubles (£1.2bn; $1.5bn) and take between five and 10 years

Cleanup efforts have been difficult because of the remote location of the plant. The crews are unable to use barges due to the shallow water, and there are no roads leading to Norilsk. Sergey Dyachenko, chief operating officer of Norilsk Nickel, told reporters on June 4 that the company plans “to transport contaminated oil to temporary sites for remediation.”

To prevent the oil from spreading to other areas, containment booms have been placed on the Ambarnaya River. In response, Greenpeace stated on its website that it “will help collect only a minor part of the pollution, and therefore it would be safe to say that nearly all of the diesel fuel will remain in the environment.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.

The United States has also offered its help. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted on June 6, "Saddened to hear about the fuel spill in Norilsk, Russia." He added that despite their disagreements, “the United States stands ready to assist Russia to mitigate this environmental disaster and offer our technical expertise.” Although the U.S. State Department and White House have not specified the ways they plan to help, efforts are in progress.

The future

It is not known how long the process to clean up the oil will take, or if all of the oil can even be cleaned up. Until then, it is important to note how environmental disasters in the Arctic like this are a result of the other dangerous environmental practices in place. The soil, plants and animals in this region of Siberia will be undoubtedly impacted and some species may never recover. This is not the first oil spill of its kind, and it will likely not be the last.

Renee is currently an English student at The University of Georgia. She lives in Ellijay, Georgia, a small mountain town in the middle of Appalachia. A passionate writer, she is inspired often by her hikes along the Appalachian trail and her efforts to fight for equality across all spectrums. She hopes to further her passion as a writer into a flourishing career that positively impacts others.

Oil Wars: The Significance of Small Battles for Land Rights Against Major Oil Companies

November 6, 2019

The complexity of the oil industry and the massive influence of big money over environmental and public health decisions often leaves the small battles to be squashed before they have seen the surface. But recent fights over land rights, have led to some large victories. Home owners, environmental groups, and tribes have all made strides against companies in their area; can these local battles gain headway on a national level?

Flag at a protest for the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Becker1999. CC-BY-2.0.

Oil has hit a cornerstone between immense support from Trump’s administration and increasing heat from environmental activists. Often oil companies are in the news when facing massive consequences for oil spills. But, people that live near drilling sites or along pipelines can face health effects and unfair treatment from corporate and government agencies every day.

The biggest culprits are often in rural areas where people are dependent on the land for their livelihood. For example, a pipeline being built from western Texas to the Gulf cuts straight through Hill Country and the ranches there. This is even true for areas designated as private conservation land that is supposed to be protected from any development. The building raises concerns for environmental, aesthetic, and public health reasons.

The same problem is found in West Virginia, where pipeline development cuts through private homes. If the owners refuse to sell their land, it can be taken legally through Eminent Domain. This will continue to become more popular in the next 15 years as there is an estimated 26,000 miles of new gas pipelines to be built. People are starting to sue to bring the problem to the Supreme Court. The increased danger of living next to a pipeline can lead to cancer, contaminated drinking water, and increased dangers if the line were to break or become damaged.

One of the biggest groups fighting against pipelines are native tribes. The Sioux gained attention at Standing Rock while fighting the production of the Dakota Access Pipeline. In the Upper Midwest, rights to Line 5 are being revoked on reservations. In Alaska, Inuit tribes are fighting drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) which has been opened up to drilling for the first time under the Trump administration.

The ANWR and the Arctic are thought to be some of the largest untapped oil reserves in the world. Climate change has increased access to areas of the region that couldn’t be reached before, yet the environmental risk of drilling and transporting in an extremely unique and fragile ecosystem has led to a lot of resistance. In the ANWR, drilling is thought to upset Caribou migration and breeding grounds, which the local people rely on as a food source and cultural significance.

In the US, it often seems like these fights always end in the same way, but in Ecuador and Canada tribes have main significant gains against drilling. In the Amazon, the Waorani won a landmark case against the Ecuadorian government that was trying to open the rainforest to mining. The government hoped to bring more cash into the country but would do so at a huge environmental and cultural cost. One that the Waorani wouldn’t allow. The area covered 7 million acres of Indigenous land. The Waorani said that is about more than the land but instead about a way of living that supports the lives of others.

In Canada, fights against seismic blasts to find offshore oil reserves had great success to protect the local ecosystem. The local Inuit of Clyne River joined with Greenpeace and grassroots environmental movements to bring it to national attention. Now Arctic off-shore blasting has seen its final days. There are great strides to be made by fighting the daily impacts of oil and gas drilling. If anything, increasing drilling and pipeline construction is continuing our dependence on one of the most carbon-dense energy sources in the world.

DEVIN O’DONNELL’s interest in travel was cemented by a multi-month trip to East Africa when she was 19. Since then, she has continued to have immersive experiences on multiple continents. Devin has written for a start-up news site and graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Neuroscience.

Some experts believe that a joint effort between the world's navies can effectively combat piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. Petty Officer 1st Class Darryl Wood, U.S. Navy - www.defense.gov. Public Domain.

Nigeria Now a Hotspot for Maritime Piracy

February 5, 2019

The word “pirate” often conjures up images of eyepatches, beards, and cutlasses. Piracy, the maritime robbery of seaborne vessels, seems like an outdated form of crime in today’s modern era, but in some countries, piracy has persisted and over the years become more sophisticated. 201 acts of piracy were recorded in 2018, an increase from the previous year, and this is due in large part to a recent surge in piracy off the coast of Nigeria. The country now ranks first in maritime piracy, with dozens of reported incidents of hijacking and kidnapping.

Nigeria is one the world’s top ten producers of oil, and lies within the Gulf of Guinea, a coastal zone that lines West Africa. The economic surge brought on by the oil industry also brought a parasitic element in the form of maritime bandits. Ships en route to oil tankers are a favorite target of these pirates, who often plunder their cargos and kidnap crew members to hold for ransom. Over the years Nigeria's oil industry has been so successful, and its population growth so exponential, that the country now relies on imports for 70 percent of its commodities. A bureaucratic docking process can easily keep 50 or more cargo ships lined up offshore for weeks waiting to enter the port city of Lagos. These ships also fall prey to pirates, who use small skiffs to approach cargo ships and then, much like the pirates of old, board the vessels by means of a ladder or grappling hook. Pirates are often armed with automatic weapons, rocket launchers, and body armor when raiding ships. Even crew members who are not physically harmed often suffer psychological trauma in the wake of an attack.

The International Maritime Bureau in Kuala Lumpur monitors pirate activity throughout the world. According to the Bureau, Nigerian pirates are extending their reach beyond territorial waters, and are targeting a wider variety of ships. Companies that operate in the Gulf of Guinea are trying to upgrade their surveillance equipment to combat the threat, but the process is time-consuming and expensive. For now, pirates remain an intrinsic part of the oil business in Nigeria. It is widely believed that only international action will be able to curb crimes committed at sea, and recently, members of the Baltic International Maritime Council (BIMCO) called on the US, China, and the European Union to form a joint Navel response to Nigerian piracy. The council believes that piracy is an international problem, and if left unchecked, could have economic consequences that stretch beyond West Africa.

JONATHAN ROBINSON is an intern at CATALYST. He is a travel enthusiast always adding new people, places, experiences to his story. He hopes to use writing as a means to connect with others like himself.