Restoration of Nigeria's environmentally devastated oil-producing Niger Delta region could take up to $1 billion and 30 years and amount to the world's largest-ever cleanup operation, a landmark United Nations report said Thursday.
The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report said pollution from more than 50 years of oil operations in Ogoniland is more far reaching than thought.
The assessment, commissioned by the Nigerian government and funded by oil giant Shell, comes on the heels of the company admitting liability for two spills in Nigeria. A spokesman said Shell welcomed the report.
"We will study the contents carefully and will comment further once we have done so," the spokesman said.
Nigeria's Niger Delta, the world's third largest wetland, is diverse and rich with mangroves and fish-rich waterways. But oil drilling has turned it into one of the most oil-polluted places on Earth with more than 6,800 recorded oil spills, accounting for anywhere from 9 million to 13 million barrels of oil spilled, according to activist groups.
But the environmental disaster has never received the kind of attention paid to last year's oil catastrophe along the Gulf Coast.
Amnesty International, which has researched the human rights impacts of pollution in the Delta, said people in the region have experienced oil spills on par with the Exxon Valdez disaster every year for the last half century.
FULL STORY
Amen& Right On to the new anthem & US prayer! Needs to be stopped! Where are the people with consideration, common sense & sense of fairness!? In danger of extinction, it seems!!
@ old & nice, I am nice looking & talking! Probably too nice for my own good, but can't change now & don't want to if I could! I enjoy being me! Why, wanna ask me for a date??
@fernace, I'm afraid you are not nice looking, don't care about your age, I'm 51. Of course I will date you, but like I said I don't want surprises.
No surprises.. Where's the fun in that?
My mom was sold to an African slave ring, so I was born in Africa. I have until I'm 18 to sue the government here for reparations. I'd sue the slave traders too, but nobody else does so why should I? I'm planning on opening up a casino with my settlement money, but only as a front for my hacky-sack operation. That's where the real money is in Africa. It sure isn't in the oilfields and diamond mines, that's for sure. Not for Africans anyway. Not even A merican-Africans. Most of Africa's leaders are doing purty good though, 'cept for the ones being forced to retire from their bribe-taking carrers.
!A merica! Si senor. Taco?
Commmme to Ahfreeka. Find out how slow natives are really black stuff in-between Elephant's toes. (even when it's head looks like a Donkey)
"let me get this straight. For all of those bars of caste iron on your ship, all you want is 300 peoples? Ok. Deal. ///fast-forward 200 years/// "OK. Let me get this straight. For all those bars of gold, all you want is oil? Deal.
Shell acts like they had no idea, and are happy these millions of barrels of oil can finally be accounted for. How sick..
@ old & nice I am nice looking, don't have to lie, but I don't date, so answer to that would be No! I'm a Born Again Virgin & pretty fanatical about it, so don't get me started on the subject cause I'll never shut up....
cool dude...and you don't hear this from other dudes a whole lot, so print this one..cause you'll never hear it from me again! LOL night all
So many long posts I thought I'd never make it to the bottom to comment...
Nigeria has been so dependent on other developing countries. this is an example, we can't even clean up our own mess.