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Dirty Shell

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      The Shell oil company has been in the news lately.  Recently they have been accused of spilling oil in the Delta region of Nigeria.  Shell's full name is the Royal Dutch Shell company.  Shell blames the leaks on sabotage, which run the illegal oil purification centers in the area.  They have been in trouble in the past for their involvement during Apartheid in South Africa.  This time it turns out that oil has been spilling into this watershed region which has contaminated the ground and the water which was once a productive fishing center.

   Shell has been brought to court in the Netherlands by a group called Friends of the Earth.  Their lawyer's name is Jan de Bie Leuveling Tjeenk.  In comparisons to other oil spills, the spill in Nigeria is double the amount that was spilled into the Gulf during the BP oil disaster.  Shell has been accused of treating this oil spill in Africa differently than how they would handle the spill if it happened in North America or Europe.  This is one of the first times that a global civil suit has been opened in the Netherlands.  This will open the door for other small exploited countries to pursue civil actions against these large leech companies, in order to make global standards of environmental responsiblity.    
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