Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has accused Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of withholding Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) reports of oil spill incidents.
This is contained in a statement issued by Mr Alagoa Morris, Head of Field Operation of ERA/FoEN in Yenagoa on Thursday.
ERA/FoEN, an environment focused non-governmental organisation, had accused SPDC of withholding JIV reports of oil spill incidents traced to equipment failure.
It stated that the withholding was to evade payment of compensation.
The statement accused SPDC of engaging in the act of denying host communities in the Niger Delta access to JIV reports which indicted it over oil spill incidents.
It further alleged that SPDC deploy security operatives to intimidate the communities and deny them of vital JIV reports, adding that testimonies of witnesses could be verified.
The statement listed Ikarama and Biseni communities of Bayelsa and Joinkrama 4, and Edagberi/Betterland communities in Rivers as some of the communities the company had denied JIV reports.
“SPDC often clandestinely denies the communities of the JIV reports; many of which are equipment failure-related oil spills.
“Shell has continued to deny the people of JK4, Ikarama and Biseni JIV reports craftily and this is unacceptable.
“They withhold such reports from the communities and fail to post most of such incidents on the company’s spill incident website; the particular spill incident numbers are often quoted when giving out clean-up contracts.
“One such incident number is 900866 and relates to a 2012 spill which occurred at Shell’s Okordia Manifold at Ikarama which is conspicuously missing in SPDC’s website.
“After signing the JIV, Shell refused to give out the community copy on the pretext that they need to photocopy the report, on the way they forced down the community representatives from the vehicle and sped off. ”
It stated that in the major spill from Shell’s 6 inches Adibawa North pipeline in Kilama, Biseni in May, 2013 which polluted the Taylor Creek and several communities, the JIV report was also withheld by Shell officials.
“After community representatives had signed the JIV with other stakeholders, Shell’s representatives said they will sign their own inside their car.
“On getting to the car, they zoomed off with the JIV report.
“That was another equipment failure spill and Shell has adopted the roguish act of denying the communities any such official records implicating the company,’’ ERA/FoEN stated.
ERA/FoEN insisted that wrong for Shell to withhold the report which was supposed to form part of community records.
It stated that Shell underestimates spilled crude volume during JIVs of equipment failure-related spills but inflates the quantity of spilled oil when it was attributed to oil theft.
Mr Precious Okolobo, Head of Media Relations in SPDC, in a reaction stated that the oil firm conducts Joint Investigation visits of spill sites in line with government regulations.
Okoloba said that whenever a spill occurs, efforts were made to contain the spill with access to the spill site usually a critical factor in shaping the response.
According to him, there have been instances where individuals, community groups or armed gangs have denied SPDC access to spill sites.
“SPDC categorically denies these allegations; the JIV team is led by the operating company and includes representatives of the regulatory bodies and the Ministry of Environment.
“Officers of the Nigerian Police Force, the relevant state government personnel and impacted communities also attend.
“Civil society members are invited to join these joint investigation visits as observers to the process.
“Allegations of intimidation or exclusion of community people in JIVs in Ikarama, Biseni or any other areas are untrue and completely baseless.
Also, allegations that we withheld JIV reports from people are false,” Okolobo said.
