XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
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   From: puela@nyet.ca   
      
   And yeah, Shell operates in the Albertan tarsands . . . .   
      
   ____________________________________________   
   Tue Jan 6, 2015   
      
   Shell to pay out $83 million to settle Nigeria oil spill claims   
      
      
   ABUJA/LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell will pay out 55 million pounds   
   ($83.4 million) in compensation for two oil spills in Nigeria in 2008 after   
   agreeing a settlement with the affected community.   
      
   The largest ever out-of-court settlement relating to oil spills in Nigeria is a   
   step forward for the oil-rich Niger Delta region that has been hit by regular   
   environmental damage, but it is tiny compared with the billions in compensation   
   and fines BP had to pay after the Macondo rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in   
   2010.   
      
   Though significantly higher than the 30 million pounds Shell had previously   
   said it would be willing to pay, its deal is a fraction of the 300 million   
   pounds-plus originally sought by the Bodo community in the Niger Delta.   
      
   The payment will be split, with 35 million pounds shared evenly between 15,600   
   Bodo individuals and the remaining 20 million pounds set aside in a trust fund   
   for projects such as health clinics and schools, said Martyn Day, senior   
   partner at Leigh Day, the British law firm acting for the community.   
      
   The individuals will each receive about 2,200 pounds, equivalent to a little   
   more than 600,000 naira ($3,249), in the first such case to pay compensation   
   directly to individual community members, Day said.   
      
   Previous similar claims have tended to go through the Nigerian authorities,   
   resulting in a disbursement to community chiefs, who were then expected to   
   distribute the money.   
      
   “It’s very unusual to have thousands benefit," Day said. "The money will go   
   directly to their bank accounts and this will hopefully be a model for future   
   claims.”   
      
   Armed gangs tapping pipelines have often been blamed for leaks in the region,   
   but Shell accepted that the Bodo spills were caused by corrosion.   
      
   “From the outset, we’ve accepted responsibility for the two deeply   
   regrettable   
   operational spills in Bodo," said Mutiu Sunmonu, managing director of Shell   
   Petroleum Development Co, the oil major's Nigerian joint venture.   
      
   "We’ve always wanted to compensate the community fairly and we are pleased to   
   have reached agreement.”   
      
   It is estimated by Leigh Day that the locals, mainly fishermen, have lost up to   
   300 pounds a year each on average since the spills.   
      
   Claimants said that the two pipeline spills resulted in the leakage of 500,000   
   barrels of oil, with Shell initially estimating the volume at about 4,000   
   barrels. It subsequently accepted that the total may have been higher, though   
   it did not provide a final figure.   
      
   Shell said that a major remediation operation would take place in the coming   
   months, following an initial clean-up phase, but it did not disclose how long   
   this would take, nor how much it would cost.   
      
      
   ==================================================================   
      
     It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the   
   environment   
      
                                ~  Ansel Adams   
   ==================================================================   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)