6 october 2003,
amsterdam (netherlands) / durban (south
africa)
shell summoned to replace old pipelines
following more spills at south africa
refinery
Dutch oil giant Shell was summoned today
by two Friends of the Earth groups to
immediately start replacing old pipelines
around its refinery in Durban, where major
new spills occurred in the past days.
Last Thursday (Oct 2th) 75,000 liters of
diesel leaked into the Island View canal near
Durban harbour. The diesel probably came from
a storage tank. A week earlier, another
diesel spill took place and it is unknown how
much diesel was spilled in the latter
event.
In April this year, Jeroen van der Veer,
president of Royal Dutch, admitted that the
refinery had experienced many problems in the
past. This admission came after questions
asked by Friends of the Earth Netherlands
(Milieudefensie) and Friends of the Earth
South Africa (groundWork).
The Shell Group promised improvements but
left the solving of problems to
local management. Milieudefensie and
groundWork want Shell to replace its old
pipelines in order to avoid future spills.
Kilometres of underground pipelines run
through residential areas. Milieudefensie and
the local community, under the umbrella of
the South Durban Community Environmental
Alliance (SDECA) demand that the Shell Group
ensure no more leakages take place.
Since 2001, the Durban community has seen
fifteen spills from Shell pipelines, hoses
and storage tanks, often in or nearby
residential areas. Amongst those was the
biggest petrol spill in the history of South
Africa: more than 1 million litres of petrol
spilled into the environment.
In April Friends of the Earth published
the report " Leaking pipelines - Shell in
South Africa." The report pointed to the
responsibility carried by the Shell Group to
stop the pollution in South Africa. Friends
of the Earth Netherlands believes that Dutch
multinationals should assume responsibility
not only for the impact of their own
activities on the environment, but also for
activities by their subsidiaries.
For more information:
FoE Netherlands (Milieudefensie) Press
Office, phone:+31 20 5507 333 or email
The report " Leaking pipelines - Shell in
South Africa" can be downloaded
from
http://www.foenl.org/publicaties.php
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