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18 years and two deaths after, Shell agrees to pay $16m for polluting water, land

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Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) will pay over $16 million (N7.14bn) to communities in Niger Delta states that were affected by multiple oil pipeline leak.

A statement from the oil company on Friday said that it was being given on the basis of “no admission of liability”.

Shell decided to reached an agreement after it lost in a court case recently in Netherlands that pronounced that its Nigerian branch of Shell was responsible for the damage.

Although it initially tried to appeal, arguing that the spillage was as a result of sabotage but after negotiation with campaign group, Friends of the Earth it agreed to pay compensation.

The four farmers who began the case – Barizaa Dooh, Elder Friday Alfred Akpan, Chief Fidelis A Oguru and Alali Efanga – said the leaks from underground oil pipelines had cost them their livelihoods by contaminating land and waterways.

Efanga and Dooh have died since the case was first filed, so their sons pursued the case instead.

READ ALSO:Shell agrees to pay $15m for oil spill in Niger Delta communities

As well as compensation, last year’s court ruling ordered Shell to set up a leak early detection system. This has now been installed, the joint statement by Shell and Friends of the Earth said.

The compensation will also be for the benefit of the communities of Oruma, Goi and Ikot Ada Udo in Nigeria, impacted by four oil spills that occurred between 2004 and 2007.

Shell statement reads in part: “Under the settlement, SPDC, as operator of the SPDC joint venture, will pay an amount of €15 million for the benefit of the communities and the individual claimants,” the statement said.

“An independent expert has confirmed that SPDC, as operator of the SPDC joint venture, has installed a leak detection system on the 20” lines that form the KCTL Pipeline in compliance with the judgment of the Court of Appeal of The Hague, the Netherlands.”

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