Shell faces Dutch lawsuit over Nigerian oil spills

In a case that looks set to again highlight the legal and reputational risks associated with environmental damage arising from alleged corporate negligence, oil giant Shell will this week be served with a summons compelling representatives from the company's Dutch HQ to respond to accusations that its operations have caused environmental damage in Nigeria.

Four Nigerian citizens, together with campaigners from Friends of the Earth Netherlands and Nigeria will file the lawsuit in the The Hague on Friday.

This is not the first time Shell has faced legal action over alleged environmental damage in Nigeria, but Friends of the Earth (FOE) claims the lawsuit is unique in that it will force representatives from Shell's HQ in the Netherlands to respond to the allegations for the first time.

"Shell hardly notices Nigerian court orders," said Nnimmo Bassey, director of FOE Nigeria. "We want a Dutch court to ensure that justice is done against Royal Dutch Shell."

Previous complaints about damage from Nigerian oil spills made to Shell's head office have been directed to its Nigerian operations, according to Liesbeth Zegveld, who is representing FOE and the other plaintiffs. "Shell headquarters believes it is untouchable, but we believe it is legally responsible for damage caused in Nigeria," she said. "Shell headquarters has the authority and control to ensure that its oil spills in Nigeria are prevented and cleaned up. We accuse Shell of negligence."

The Nigerian plaintiffs are fishermen and farmers from the Niger Delta who claim they have suffered from the effects of oil spills from Shell's operations. The claims follow a scientific investigation which showed that up to 33 months after oil spills in the area, soil and water could not be used for agriculture or fishing.

According to FOE, investigations by US professor and oil spill expert Rick Steiner revealed that Shell did not meet international standards for "good oil field practice" in Nigeria.

The lobby group claims Shell's oil production in Nigeria causes on average five oil spills per week with every incident releasing an average of 16 thousand litres of crude oil into the environment.

A spokesman for Shell said that the company had not yet received the threatened summons from FOE and as could not respond in detail to the allegations.

However, he added that the company had responded to requests for detailed information from FOE relating to four oil spills in the Niger Delta and that " our answers made it clear, amongst other things, that all these spills were caused by the actions of unauthorised third parties".

He added that the company's responses to the lobby group also "detailed the actions that the Joint Venture (consisting of the Nigerian State Company NNPC, SPDC, AGIP and Total) conducting operations in Nigeria took to contain these spills, clean up the spilled oil and restore the areas affected, in full accordance with the requirements in force".