Newsgroups: bit.listserv.biosph-l
Date:         Fri, 9 Oct 1992 19:09:39 GMT
Reply-To:     Terence Sommerville <TSOMMER@IRLEARN.UCD.IE>
From:         Terence Sommerville <TSOMMER@IRLEARN.UCD.IE>
Subject:      Oil companies (operations) in Ecuador, Nigeria,
              Gabon and New Guinea

Critical Eye: Heat of the Moment on 'Channel 4'

broadcast from the UK to both UK + Ireland on Thur 8th Oct 92, 9pm-10pm

The following information is based on the above programme :
The programme examined the operations of oil companies in Ecuador, Nigeria,
Gabon and New Guinea.

Oil companies in Ecuadoran Amazonia.
------------------------------------
The programme went behind the real 'environmental' face that the oil
companies put on. Two companies focused on were Dutch Shell and Petro Canada.

Since the early 80's oil exploration has been taking place in the rain forests
of Ecuador. The oil companies claim they carry this out with the greatest care
and sensitivity taking the local peoples needs into account. The reality is
quite different.
The programme showed quite clearly how oil companies are the vanguard for
greater destruction later. In Ecuador the oil companies are drilling in
National Reserves and have opened up new roads into previously inaccessible
and senstive areas of the forest. Along these roads come hordes of settlers,
with slash and burn techniques, and also the timber companies for which the
roads provide means for getting the timber out.

The local indigeneous people were not consulted or compensated in any way.
The rivers and streams which they relied on, (in the Preserve area) for their
high protein diets of fish have become polluted from large oil spills from
both pipelines and overflow ponds. The overflow ponds are used for the
drilling mud and excess oil that comes out while drilling. This is the same
technique used by them in the 1960's in Arabia. However, due to the high
rainfall in Ecuador, these ponds frequently overspill and it pours into
surrounding lakes, rivers and streams. The programme showed pictures of
this oil in such places and it was clear that these spills contaminate large
areas. The oil not only harms and kills wildlife but the forest is unable
to recover (in the foreseeable) future from such degradation.

The plant and animal diversity in very many tropical areas is quoted to be
very high, but in fact the highest recorded levels of diversity have been
recorded in the Amazonia of Ecuador and Peru. In some of spot the maximum
diversity possible for a small sample plot was achieved for trees.
(Ref: Introductionm to Tropical Rainforests

In the regions effected by oil operations, these areas have been declared
military zones, since the early 80's. Thus only 'authorized' personnel are
allowed into these areas, and journalist and people reporting the plight of
the indigeneous people are definetly not in that category. It is quite clear
that the appropriate bribes/arrangements or whatever ensures that operations
run smoothly for the oil companies.

The oil companies in Eucador say they have the minimum impact and that the
forest is intact all around when they leave. The building of roads however
puts paid to that idea, as once opened, these areas are doomed.


Oil companies in the Niger River Delta, Nigeria.
------------------------------------------------
Here the programme focused on Shell, owned by Dutch Shell. The company also
stated that for its operations in Nigeria, that they are carried out with
local consent, due care to the environment and all the other 'corporate speak'
one hears from these companies.

The basic situation is as follows. The Niger Delta supports over 6 million
people, mainly via its rich fertile soils and it's fish. This place was
always self sufficient in food, but is no longer and must import food now.
Land is short because of frequent flooding and all available space is
carefully farmed. Shell oil control or own most of the land. There are
huge areas of oil drilling and processing sites, and masses of pipes cross
farmland and right through villages. It was reported last year that over 2000
reported oil spills took place, which is estimated to amount to 2.1 million
gallons. The situation is rather grim for the locals. They have not be
consulted by Shell on anything that Shell do. Land is short and hard to get,
but Shell arrive from the capital Lagos with licences for whatever they want.

The Nigeria government receives considerable tax from the oil companies and
Shell accounts for 50 percent of oil produced in Nigeria. The Nigeria
government is notoriously corrupt and if you want to do anything in Nigeria
you bribe. Ask any business man who has been there. So clearly this tax money
does not flow back to the people who live over the oil and have to live with
it's effects. This was one of the many complaints of the local people.

The oil contamination in the Delta has effected fishing badly and crops are
becoming increasinly hard to grow and land increasingly scare. You would
expect the people to protest, largely they don't but in the summer of 1990,
one village did.

The TV programme for the next piece showed graphic pictures of the result of
what happened next.

I can't remember the village name, but the outcome led to a jurdical inquiry
in Nigeria, so therefore is documented.

One of the Delta villages planned a protest, and on the first day which was
peaceful, they shared drink and food with the Police and Shell officals. However
unknown to them, Shell had earlier asked the government to call in the
special 'Mobile Police Force'. When they arrived they cleared the crowd and
started shooting people and burning houses. Then they went away. They came
back the next day with automatic weapons and explosives and either burned
down and blew up every building in the village. Between the 2 days 80 people
were killed. They also burned down the local health clinic including all the
patients who had been in it. Then they rounded up the bodies of most of those
killed and burned them. The programme showed the burnt out buildings from
pictures taken 1 year later, and another picture from presumably nearer the
event of the charred body of the village elder, (whose, two grand-daughters
had also being murdered. ). The jurdical inquiry agrees that the Mobile Police
Force were responsible for most of the deaths and acted unduly. Shell of
course claimed it was nothing to do with them and the production of oil was
under threat of disruption which meant they were entitled to call in the
police. Eye witness accounts stated quitely clearly to the contrary.

Wouldn't it be so much easier for us to belive the oil company, since they
seem to be such nice people, especially with all those nice ad-verts they
put on. I say no, they are just as guilty of plain MURDER as the Mobile
Police Force were. These people are not fools, they know how politics works
and how holidays, bribes, games of golf, power lunches, perks, etc etc can
ease one's way when dealing with 'difficulites' in the administration/government

We must all note the clear relationship between our demand for oil in our
cars in the West, the lack of humans right in Niger Delta and the net effect
to the 6 million of the population in the Niger Delta.

The starting conditions for them were:
   Oil under the Delta, self-sufficient in food, clean environment.

Today the net condition is:
   Must import food, bad health in population, polluted environment,
   no compensation, Oil burnt somewhere in the West.

Think about if you were one of them how would you feel ?



Oil companies in Gabon.
-----------------------
Gabon is a country the size of the UK in west central Africa. It has a
population of over 1 million. About 80% of the country is forested.

Shell in the mid 80s discovered large oil fields beneath the Africa tropical
forest here. The forests of Gabon are home to gorillas, elephants and about
60 species of primate. It is perhaps so far, the least disturbed piece of
forest in Africa. As we all know gorillas are in particular danger of
extinction and such animals need large undisturbed ranges to sustain and
by inference survive.

Shell claim they are carrying out operations with great care and uttmost
respect for the environment. When interviewed, they tried to claim they
were using helicopters to bring everything in and out of the areas they
are working in. The opposite is true. They helped construct a road right
into the heart of the forest to allow all the heavy equipment to be brought
in. Settlers have already moved in down these artieries to the interior,
immediately increasing hunting activity, farming has spread along the roads.
The gorillas are attracted to the crops growing there, and the farmers have
laid traps and snares to stop them. The gorillas frequently are left to rot
in these traps.

Shell in the meantime, has opened over 80 wells. They have cleared large areas
of forest, and the overflow ponds, as described in the case of Ecuador,
are already leaking large amounts of oil. Large pools of oil and extremely
rare plant and environment sensitive insects and animals do NOT mix.
They have also cleared the forest for huge air strips. The effect of these
activites is the beginning of the partition of the forest up into patches,
which will thence recede.

To pour more scorn on their activities, they also persuaded the World Bank
and the IMF to loan $30 million to Gabon to pay for these new roads. This
means they get some of the infrastructure necessary to carry out the rape
of Gabon for free. The World Bank + IMF, expect their money back, so they
are planning on the roads being used by timber companies to help 'generate
exports' (sounds familiar) to pay the money back.

Anyone who thinks these roads are going to be closed off, dug up and replanted
when Shell is finished in 20 years time, please raise your right hand.

Again we see how these oil companies are one of the main thrusts pushing into
the tropical rainforest today, and are the seed of so much destruction.


Again the net effect is:

Start: Oil in ground, lots of forest, lots of wildlife - in fact one of the
       treasures/wonders of the Earth.

End:   Oil gone, Forest gone (in 20 yrs),
       Wildlife (permanently) dead.
       Net diversity of Earth reduced another bit.
       Means of survival for people of Gabon - greatly deteriotated.


Oil companies in New Guinea.
----------------------------

New Guinea is home to one of the most lingusitically diverse areas on the
planet. There are over 700 languages spoken there. It is characterised by
tropical forest with a central higlands running the length of the country.
It was the dense forest and rugged terrain that allowed so many languages
to diversify since contact with differing groups was kept to a minimum.

However all this is changing, with the Shell and Cheveron Oil companies
at the forefront, as usual. These companies with their usual blatant lies
are claiming once again, how senstive and care they are to the environment
and how they are helping local peoples. They got on fine for the last
30,000 or so years without them, so what do they need them for.

In the central highlands, oil has unfortunately being found. The top of
hillsides are being flatened to make ways for drill sites and roads are
being opened up, through the mountains to these sites, with oil pipelines
being laid, taking the oil to sea-ports and thence to the, where-else, the
West, (hardly Somalia).

New Guinea is most famous for it's Birds of Paradise. In the programme,
shown (see above), the villagers in one region, (it was on a lake which
until last year was inacessible, but now has a road to it), reported how
when the oil companies arrived, they started chopping down trees on the
hillsides overlooking the lake. These hills had been the home to many
birds, including the Birds of Paradise species group, and many other animals.
Since the removal of the trees and further wrecking of the forest, from
debris falling down and knocking over yet more, the animals have all left.
And so the typical squezze on habitat has begun. Already the lake is becoming
polluted from oil leaks, and the tribes who used to live in harmony with
one another in the area, are in some areas on the threshold of violence,
over issues such as land rights. Some tribes have been paid for some land.
But others who have not been, claimed the land was theirs. Even though
before these places were 'opened up', such claims were never an issue.
It is plain obvious, that the oil companies are taking a leaf out of the
old British book of 'Divide and Conquer'. To them it does not matter who they
gave money to. What matters is that with all the local people focused on these
side issues, they can get on with their task, and no united opposition is
ever going to arise, since they can cynically manipulate them, via
preferental treatment to one group or the other.

The programme show pictures of the widespread destruction caused and one
local person described how the location of the drill sites on hill tops
meant that oil was seeping down into the rivers and lakes, where the
animals came each day to drink and where they themselves got their fresh
water. This water had become undrinkable and was making them ill.

Just think of it, this crowd arrives out of the sky, arrogantly chop down
forest all around, pollute the water, open-up roads, lay pipelines, and
then give no compensation, not that there could be any, since the best
thing they could do is leave and undo all they did.

The oil pipelines do not have the same criteria applied to them as would
be the case in the West. In the Evironmental Impact Study of a Spill, I
quote, from the programme, which quote from their report;

- '..the fish will adapt avoidance behavior...'

And for the coastline, where the oil pipeline goes to, remains one of the
few large patches of undisturbed mangroves swamps in all of Asia, they
said that an oil spill would be of negible to medium effect. Just like
that, nothing to back it up. Picked straight out of the air. Identical to
the plan they had in Alaska, by the sound of it. I.E. Basically NONE.

Contrast this as the programme, did, with clips from promotional videos
from the Shell Oil Company, with statements like how valuable the worlds
rainforest are, how they are doing their bit to look after them and so on.


These companies ARE aware of what treasures these forests are, and that
they represent millions of years of evolution of the plants and animals to
get to their present state. Despite this, they still knownly tell blatant
lies to us in the West and trample over the peoples and their rights in these
regions. These companies should be brought to trial for crimes against
humanity's resources. What an outcry there would be if some company
decided to destroy all the great Art in the World. Well the diversity of
these forests is millions of times more valuable the all the Art ever
produced by Mankind and yet these firms can destroy it with impunity.


It must be clear the very direct link, our daily activities have. Every
litre of petrol in our cars creates the demand for this oil and finanices
the oil companies to do all these things as outlined above. This is why
the debate on Energy is such an integral part of any discussion on the
environment with particular relevance to the tropical rain forests.

-Terry.