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ERA Alert: Ongoing Shell Spill puts community at Risk |
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Wednesday, 15 August 2007 |
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Location: Ikot Ada Udo, Ikot Abasi LGA, Akwa Ibom State , Nigeria
Cause of Spill: Facility failure
Oil company: Shell Petroleum Development Company
Action taken by Shell: None
Alert Date: 15 August 2007
For about two weeks now, a corked well owned by SPDC has been spewing crude oil and noxious fumes into the environment of Ikot Ada Udo in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. Community people say that although the oil giant has been informed of the situation it has shown no sign of waking up to its responsibility.
There is palpable fear of conflagration in the community going by antecedents in other areas. There is also a fear of a rise in respiratory diseases in the area as the fumes hang thick in the air.
The incident continues to attract sympathizers who only commiserate with the local people but lack the technical skills to be of any tangible help.
“Our farmlands as well as water sources have been polluted and we are rendered helpless and hopeless,” said a community activist. “This well is Shell’s reserve. We don’t deserve this calamity. Shell should immediately maintain their facilities in our community and everywhere else in the Niger Delta. They should
be pressured to live up to their responsibilities and halt this impunity,” he added.
What you can do - Send a letter to your legislator (Local Government, State and National) to call Shell to order. Demand a clean up of the degraded environment.
- Write to Shell and demand that they should immediately halt the spill, repair their faulty equipment and compensate the community and the people for the havoc wreaked on their environment and means of livelihood.
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